The Dragonborn Empress
by lotrgirl2000
Summary: They say that all the Septims were Dragonborn. That didn't end with the Oblivion Crisis. Major AU
1. The Beginning part one

Author's Note: I have to do an explanation of stuff that I put into the story pre-Skyrim, please get through these couple of pages. Thanks!

There's a strange fact about the Amulet of Kings that people don't really know about. It's very similar to a daedric artifact, or Daedra in general, in that it can't actually be destroyed in the mortal plane. So when Martin Septim released the power of the amulet to become the avatar of the god Akatosh (which killed him), he didn't actually destroy it like everyone thought he had. He had merely sent it back to a plane in Aetherius to, in a matter of speaking, recharge and to wait for the next mortal to make a covenant with. It would wait another two hundred years (although time has no meaning to metaphysical artifacts, especially those created by the God of Time).

In those two hundred years, many things happened and quite a bit changed. A political cold war ensued between the two most unlikely people in Cyrodiil. Aurelia Corvii, who was the closest thing Martin had to a widow and was carrying what would turn out to be Martin's child. She also happened to be a Septim herself through her father. Before the death of Martin, she had been thought to be rather insignificant, even though just about everyone thought she would become empress when the whole Oblivion Crisis was sorted. On the other side was the head of the Elder Council, Ocato. The Elder Council was the only one who could declare the next emperor in times like this. However, Ocato hated Aurelia and the feeling was mutual, although no one is sure when or why the enmity started. All we can say for sure is that it was a tragedy for the stability of the Empire at a time when it needed stability more than ever. Ocato, and therefore, the Elder Council, would never accept Aurelia. Aurelia and her supporters, the old guards of the Septim Emperors, the Blades, and most of the people, would accept no one else. This ten period is known as the Years of the Kinslayers, the blood part was because all of the very distant cousins of the Septims were killed, until there were only two. The first was the aforementioned Aurelia and the second was her son, who was ever so subtly named Martin. (How could anyone guess who his father was?) By the end of this period he was ten. It is alternatively known by modern historians as the first cold war in recorded history. However, the pattern of those years, which had been quite a bit of hostility but no actual violence, although it sometimes got perilously close, changed when Ocato was assassinated by the Thalmor, who had begun to regain power in their homeland, the Summerset Isles.

The rest Elder Council didn't feel like looking as if they had been controlled by Ocato for the past ten years and thus took the step he never had. They proclaimed a man named Thules (who would be known as Thules the Gibbering and a man the people would come to hate) the emperor, proclaimed Aurelia's son's claim to the throne illegitimate because he was a bastard (which hadn't bothered anyone else in the past, as quite a few of the Septim emperors had been bastards or the child of a bastard), and declared Aurelia an enemy of the state. This was, in effect, a declaration of war. Both forces began to mobilize. It looked like the realm would be put in even more turmoil, but something unexpected happened. Aurelia was assassinated. Or her son was a target of assassination, and she sacrificed herself to save him, no one really knew, as sources don't agree, not even the primary witnesses. Martin ran into hiding, taking the key to his incredible inheritance with him. It has been the goal of many thieves and adventurers to find this key, but none have succeeded.

As soon as Aurelia had died, things went from bad to worse. Aurelia had almost all of the people on her side and she had a very strong claim. She was the descended from the younger of the two daughters of Tiber Septim. While this claim would usually be superseded by one from a descendant of the elder daughter, they were all dead. Aurelia was also the mother of the last Septim emperor's only child, who was too young to press his own claim. Lots of people would flock to her banner because of this. When she was killed, there were huge amounts of confusion as to who was the legitimate claimant.

The obvious candidate would have been Aurelia's son, however he had disappeared. Not only did he take the fortune, he was the last of the recognized Septims and blood of Tiber Septim on both sides. Anyone else who claimed to be a Septim would be met with suspicion and the claim would likely be dwarfed by Martin's, whom no one disputed was at least a Septim on _one _side of the family.

Aurelia's cousin, Titus Mede, attempted to restore order, or at least, that was what he said he was doing. He said that it was the Elder Council who had Aurelia killed and it that was time to take action. However, this is contested. There were many of people who could have been the mastermind of the attack: the Thalmor, Thules acting of his accord, and, funnily enough, Titus Mede himself. Proponents of this theory have mentioned that if it had been any other factions, they would have wanted something quiet and small, not something that would make a martyr. They would have hired a Dark Brotherhood assassin and most historians agree that this killing was far too sloppy for it be from them. There was also the question of who benefited, though this is the product of hindsight. However, it cannot be discredited that Titus Mede was actually suggested as the killer from the beginning, surprisingly enough not by the Elder Council or the then Emperor. Quite a few people from Aurelia's side, one being Jauffre, the Grandmaster of the Blades, pointed out how if he had really cared about Aurelia he would have followed her last wishes. He would have put her son on the throne and he would be, if anything, the regent at best. Titus Mede would respond to this accusation that no one knew where Martin had gone. His accusers noted that Mede didn't exactly look very hard for the boy. Future historians would point out how Aurelia had completely passed over Mede in her will, favoring his younger brother, Claudius, who was known for being kind, but not the brightest. In fact, she left him all of Kvatch and stated her wish for him to inherit Bruma, if her son couldn't do these things. There was also the fact that in a letter to Jauffre, she had mentioned the fact that she did not trust her elder cousin. While both her only cousins were older than her, most take this to mean Titus.

So when Titus Mede declared his intentions, there were mixed feelings. The power base of Aurelia was split into those who sided with Mede, those who fervent in the belief that only a Septim could rule the Empire, and those who didn't know what to think. This lack of unity might have made the Elder Council feel victorious, but that feeling didn't last long. Because in that same year, year 11 of 4E, Thules was overthrown. Not only that, but this lack of unity for one person or faction would damage the Empire for hundreds of years to come.

Six long years of pretenders and confusion hit the Imperial City and all of Cyrodiil, until Titus Mede and his one thousand men conquered the capital city. Mede declared himself Emperor, thus ending the Stormcrown Interregnum, which had started with the almost civil war or Aurelia's assassination, depending on your point of view. However, even though there was stability on paper, the Empire was weakened. Titus Mede's claim was shaky and the people realized this. Not all of the cities swore loyalty to him after he captured the capital and there would be pockets of resistance for decades. All of these were due, or at least traceable, to the actions of Mede in response to the assassination of his cousin. There were multiple people who claimed to be "Martin II", although all but one were completely proven beyond a doubt to merely be pretenders to the throne. Still, even when these revolts were crushed, there was talk of finding the last of living, proven Septims.

This talk only got worse when the Summerset Isles seceded from the Empire. When Mede seemed incapable of stopping this, the people were angry. They started feeling a bit more nostalgic. The elder Martin wouldn't have just made a good emperor had he been given the chance, he would have been the greatest since Tiber Septim himself and if he hadn't died then none of this would have happened. Aurelia Corvii had not just been a beautiful woman, she had been the most powerful woman in the world and if she had been empress, none of the Empire's weakening would have happened. Her son Martin, even if they didn't really know what he was like, was a political and military genius and if he had been emperor, none of the decline would have occurred. There was a trend in these revivalist groups thinking. In Kvatch, Aurelia's birthday became a festival and the day of her death was to be mourned each year. While the people in Kvatch were all for this, it didn't hurt that that Claudius had adored his cousin. In the Imperial City, people began leaving things on and around the statue of Aurelia and of Martin. These were things like flowers and letters that said things like, "we miss you!" or, "we're waiting, don't worry!" Needless to say, the Emperor wasn't pleased about this, but there wasn't much he could do.

But while there was talk, full on, united revolt didn't happen. These Septim revivalists had no leader and were mostly united regionally instead of nationally. They were all looking for a Septim to lead them, but Martin did not come. Every scrap of information they had about Martin was from whispering in the dark corners of taverns or rumors discussed late at night.

So, what was the practically legendary Martin doing? Becoming the greatest swordsman of his time in an effort to avenge his mother. He seemed to know who the murderer was, but he never told anyone. He would marry a Redguard woman named Lairya, the only one who ever matched him in fight. He seemed to live the rest of his life in peaceful obscurity. He had only had one child, a son, which would become a trend in the family. There would be no surviving daughters and if there was more than one son, only one of them would have children, for various reasons.  
Some consider this divine providence. Those who are more skeptical will mention the amount of diseases there were in the world and the idea of infertility, though they will admit the oddness of a lack of daughters or branches of the family.

The years passed. The Empire continued to weaken. Valenwood and then Elsweyr seceded and soon became part of the Aldmeri Dominion under the control of the Thalmor. Soon Black Marsh seceded as well, though it did not become a part of the Dominion. In 166, Morrowind seceded because of the Empire's inability or lack of care to help them in the subsequent years after Red Mountain had erupted, destroying many of its cities, covering most of the land in ash, and crippling its economy. Two years later the Emperor died and his son became Titus Mede II. Just two years into the new emperor's reign, the Thalmor demanded that the worship of Talos be banned, the Blades disbanded, and to turn over most of southern Hammerfell. The emperor refused, and thus the Great War started.

In the year 174, the Thalmor got where no one, including (at least in the beginning) themselves, thought they could. They sacked the Imperial City, set fire to the Imperial Palace, as well as the White-Gold Tower which they also pillaged for anything of value, and committed unspeakable atrocities on the locals. The Emperor was able to return with reinforcements, but the damage had been done. In 175, the White-Gold Concordant was signed, giving in to the original Thalmor demands. Hammerfell refused to accept this and continued to fight the Thalmor alone into a stalemate for the five years. Hammerfell would have an enduring grudge against the Empire for abandoning them to their fate.

However, there is an incident in the war that was unrecorded. Just before the beginning of violence, a Blades agent named Delphine was recalled to Cyrodiil on a top secret mission. The Blades were looking for the Septims and it was her job to find them. And she did. Two months before the White-Gold Concordant was signed, a man named Adaric was pulled from the army. He was the last of the line.

But the Blades weren't the only ones looking for the last of the Septims. The Thalmor were also looking for him. For even though the Elves live the longest of any race, their leader still feared death. He asked all of the Daedra how he would die, but the only one to answer was Clavicus Vile. Clavicus told him that the he would be killed by a woman of Septim blood. So, the obvious solution to the King was to kill however many people were left and that would solve the problem.  
Luckily for Adaric, however, the Blades found him first and after the disastrous ending of the war, he and Delphine escaped together by going through Hammerfell. For ten years they roamed through Hammerfell and Skyrim as nomads. It was in Hammerfell that the most important moment of Adaric's life occurred, for Akatosh had found the time was right to return the amulet to the last of the Septims. He gave the Amulet of Kings to Adaric and told him that when the emperor died, one of his blood would have to relight the Dragonfires or the Daedra would consume the world.

Time passed. Delphine and Adaric grew closer and, five years after the war's end, they married. Five years after that, the child they never thought they would have, was born. A girl, whom they named Merina.

_"Not much is known about the Empress Kintrya III, or as she was known then, Merina, from the first years of her life . What knowledge we have is few and far between. We do know that she was born in the Jerall Mountains near Skyrim on the 30th of Frostfall, probably in the year 180 of the Fourth Era. Her parents were a Blades agent named Delphine and a man named Adaric. Until Merina, which is what we shall call her for this period of her life, he was the last Septim. No records of her before age ten were made, or if they were, they did not survive. While the Empress wrote a bit that has survived, we cannot trust these accounts that she wrote in her memoirs, as they are likely to be heavily biased and politically influenced. But what little we do know can tell us many things about the woman and her motives. Even if they do not tell the truth, they tell us what people wanted to hear about her._

_~ The Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by, Chaes Belarnion_

Later, she wouldn't remember much about that day. She would not remember why he was leaving, where he was going, where they really were in the Jeralls (there were a lot of trees so she was probably toward the bottom of one side, but that wasn't very helpful), or even if it was Sun's Dusk or Evening Star. But she would remember the snow. It was the purest of white, almost unnaturally so. After that day, she never really saw it the same way.

The memory started at home. She remembered her mother's hair, the same shade of blonde as her own, and craning her neck to see her father's face. In all honesty, she couldn't remember much of his face. Every time she realized that she could recall less and less of his face she would feel a horrible twist in her stomach. How could she be forgetting her own father's face? She had been ten years old at the time, hardly too young to remember. But then she would think about his smile. At least she remembered his smile. His smile had lit up his face, making the wrinkles and hardships melt away. He had been smiling when he had said he was leaving. Mother had given him some supplies. Then he'd walked off, his boots crunching in the snow.

He must have forgotten something, because her mother said to go after him with a grin as if they were sharing some private joke, as if this happened often. She had said to stay close, but Merina had run ahead. Back then, she had always loved running. She went faster and faster, almost flying across the snow, pushing tree limbs away from her face as she sped on ahead.

But she skidded to a stop, hair flying in her face from the sudden lack of motion, blue-gray eyes went wide as soon as she saw the scene in front of her. This was the part she hadn't forgotten, the part that refused to be forgotten when every time she thought of it, it was as if her heart was cut in two with a jagged blade.

As soon as she saw them, she knew who the elves, two men and and a woman, were. They were Thalmor Justicars, with the cucumber green skin and golden armor to prove it. Her mother had told her what to do if she ever saw them: run and find her or Father. But her mother was nowhere to be seen and going to Father obviously wasn't an option. So she hid. She was behind two evergreens, staring at the scene. The Thalmor didn't seem to notice her, perhaps they couldn't see her or maybe they just didn't care— all their attention was on her father.

The woman, who seemed to be their leader, spoke first. Merina couldn't remember what she had said, but she remembered the woman's voice. It was harsh, cold, and clear, even against the raging wind.

With that she pulled out her sword, the others followed her lead. And at that moment, even if she didn't want to believe it, she knew it was all over. Her father managed to evade the first few blows, but he had only a small dagger and the clothes on his back to protect him. He looked over at her, as if somehow knowing she was there, trying to express everything in a final glance. That horrifying moment seemed to defy the laws of time for Merina, slowing down and repeating, over and over. The moment where she saw the elven woman's blade go through her father's spine, golden metal tainted by burgundy red. The snow looked like someone had torn up the petals of a rose. Or at least, that was how she remembered it years later. Brother Darion said it was her way of coping with what had happened, by using over the top, flowery language that seemed completely out of character. Either way, that was how she remembered it.

She almost screamed, but just as she was about to, someone's gloved hand quickly covered her mouth. She began kicking and flinging her arms about, her screaming muffled by the hand over mouth. She stopped however, when her silencer spoke, in the quietest of whispers. "Merina, if you scream, they will kill us. There's nothing we can do for your father now. We have to leave."

It was her mother. Still, that just made Merina want to protest, there had to be something— _anything_—they could do! They couldn't just _leave _him there! They could still save him!

They ran back to the deserted house, well more like Delphine ran and dragged Merina along with her. As soon as she got there, Merina suddenly realized how real this all was. She tried to stay quiet, but she couldn't stop the crying. It was hard enough not to wail.

'Crying isn't going to do anything. It's just annoying.' She tried to stop crying or at least muffle even her sniffles, but she wasn't very successful.

They grabbed what they could— money, food, water, and the amulet. The amulet she was apparently supposed to use to light the Dragon Fires and stop the Daedra from invading. How she was ever supposed to be able to do that, she had no idea. At that point, she was honestly afraid of it. But the amulet had also been given to Father. She grabbed it and held it so close to her chest it moved with her breathing, before stuffing it in the front pocket of her apron. Once they were outside, back in the snow and the biting cold, her mother was next to her, a lit torch in her hand.

"We're going to have to burn it." She heard Mother reluctantly say. "I know." Merina didn't recognize her own voice when she said that. It sounded cold and uncaring. She pushed the thought away. Now wasn't the time to be emotional, the Thalmor could find them at any moment, and she needed be rational. She need to be like Mother.

"I want to do it," she said. Her mother looked rather surprised when she said that, but nodded, handed her the torch, and went to get the horse.

Merina took one long, last look at the house, with its straw thatch roof and almost white wooden walls. The house where she had been born, said her first word, taken her first step, and spent her entire life. She took one last look at the fir trees sitting in the snow, the sun painting the sky with hues of pinks, yellows, and oranges as it rose over the mountain. She took a deep breath, and threw the torch. The house erupted in flames, its colors as beautiful as those of the dawn.  
'Now is not the time to be nostalgic. Now is the time to just try and survive.'

And with that she went to her mother and got on the horse. She was leaving, never to return.

They rode all day, but were still in the mountains. Merina thought they were going south, but she wasn't sure. As the sun began to set, they stopped and began to set up a camp, which with their limited supplies was mainly just setting up a fire and tying the horse to a tree.

"Mother, where are we going?"

Her mother sighed, and stared at the ground. "We're going to Kvatch— it's a city in Cyrodiil. There's a man there who might hide you."

"Might?"

"You know that after the Great War the Thalmor started hunting the Blades?"

Of course Merina knew. She had heard the story more times than she could count. Her mother was a Blades agent in the Summerset Isles who had been recalled just before the start of the war to look for Merina's father, who was at that point the last Septim. It was the only reason her mother hadn't been killed in the Thalmor's original purge. After the war ended and the White-Gold Concordant had been signed, her parents were on the run. Blah, blah, blah.

"Well, the man who helped your father and I escape Cyrodiil, the last I saw him, lived in Kvatch. But it's been almost twenty years."

Merina wasn't exactly reassured by that. It had been twenty or so years and her mother didn't even know if the man still lived in the same city. Or if he was even still alive.

They didn't really speak much after that. Dinner consisted of a few apples and some water.  
"You should get some sleep," she heard her mother whisper, "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

She rolled over, closed her eyes, and tried to lay on as few rocks as possible. That's when her mother started to cry. Merina felt the urge to go comfort her, but she didn't think that was what her mother needed. Besides, she didn't really know what to say.

Merina didn't know when she fell asleep, but it felt like she hadn't gotten any when her mother woke her up. She was about to say that it was too early, but then she remembered the day before.

"It's time to go, Merina."

Her mother was standing in front of her, holding out a hand to lift her up and Merina took it. They walked over to the horse sleepily and mechanically, as if running away from your father's elven murderers to a man who may or may not be alive, let alone help you was some everyday event. As they began to gallop off, Merina looked back and could have sworn she saw a dragon, like the ones from her story books and Imperial banners, in the distance.  
'But that's impossible,' she thought, 'Dragons have been extinct since before the days of Talos.'

She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, the dragon was gone.  
'It's too early, Merina. You're seeing things.'

The next few days passed in a blur of less and less trees and more and more snow. Merina hadn't even realized that there could even be so much snow. Or such cold. It wasn't like there was no wind back home, but it was nothing like what she was experiencing now. The wind was constantly howling in her ears, the snow constantly falling, and she was constantly freezing. Even though she had been born in what was essentially a frozen waste land except for trees, it didn't mean she was used to it or that it didn't bother her. The farther they went the worse it got.

When she mentioned this to her mother, she laughed.

"You would hate Atmora, dear. This is the only weather there."

"And there's a reason no one lives in Atmora anymore."

"Don't worry, you'll like Kvatch. You won't see that much snow there."

This was partly relieving and partly even more worrying. No snow was good  
news. But the snow was also the only thing she had ever known. And she noted how her mother hadn't included herself in her comment. The thought terrified Merina. She couldn't lose her mother, especially not now.

As they made their way across the mountains, less and less snow appeared as more and more trees began to show up. As they started to descend, she began to see wildflowers in shades of yellow, blue, pink, red, and purple. Eventually, the beginnings of actual roads began to appear, though they didn't travel by them. Under any other circumstances, Merina would have loved to stay and see everything. Funnily enough, she had always wanted to travel. Now she got to, but it was for the worst of reasons. She looked ahead and was startled to see what might have been actual civilization in the basic outlines of what looked like a wall.

"Mother, what's that?" She whispered.

Her mother stopped the horse and looked up to the fractured wall. She sighed and frowned. "That is a bad memory."

She suddenly booted the horse into action, and turned it around to head up to the fortress. Merina could never have expected what she saw. In front of her, there were the remnants of a shattered gate that must have been blown off the wall. The marble steps were crushed and splintered in many place and the braziers were knocked over. There were huge holes in the pagoda roof with singe marks and pieces knocked out. Half of the huge front door was missing. Parts of the columns were gone or lying in shambles, and what looked like half of the entire building had been completely burned to the ground. Skeletons in Blades armor were everywhere. What once must have been a grand structure was now reduced to practically rubble.

"This was Cloud Ruler Temple, the citadel of the Blades. It was besieged by the Thalmor during the Great War. We did our best, but there just weren't enough of us."

"How did you get out?"

"About a hundred stayed back, making a last stand to give the rest of us a  
chance."

"So where are the other Blades?"

Her mother stared at the ground, "I don't think there are any others," she admitted.

She started up the steps and went through the smaller door on the left. Merina followed, trying hard not to fall. The room they entered was empty, but otherwise unharmed. But when they went up the stairs and through another door it was an entirely different story. Parts of the roof had fallen in. Objects had been thrown around as if a madman was searching for something.

"This was where the emperors used to sleep when they were here. It hasn't  
been used since Emperor Martin, so it was where we kept all of the Septim relics we had." Her mother seemed to be barely keeping her calm while she was speaking. When she started speaking again, she didn't even attempt to. Her face was red, and she was glaring at a wall with her hands clenched in fists.

"They took all of the artifacts as some kind of petty victory. They even melted down the armor of Tiber Septim to make a statue of their leader."

After that they moved into the great hall. Even more of the roof had caved in and the tables were marked by large gashes and heavy scorch marks. Her mother quickly guided her to another room with large doors.

This room was the most damaged. All of the roof had caved in and was in shambles across the floor. All of the shelves were on the floor and quite a few had been ruined in one way or another. Burned books strewn haphazardly on the floor, as if someone had been frantically searching for information. Ghostly burn marks were everywhere. A single skeleton lay in the middle, his robe almost completely burnt away, and his right hand was still holding the ashes of a long burnt out torch.

"This was the archive, where we kept all of our precious information. It was where most of the younger ones worked. When we realized that we were going to be overrun, one, Cidrian, stayed behind to make sure everything that couldn't be carried by the others would burn. He was eighteen, maybe nineteen." She took in a breath, as if trying to hold back tears. "This is why the Thalmor must be destroyed. They bring nothing but destruction and death and oppression. This is why you have to destroy them."

'And for Father,' Merina thought. She would destroy the Thalmor for her father if it was the last thing she did.

Her mother's words brought Merina out of her thoughts. "Swear to me you'll do this."

Merina had never seen her mother this way, so open and raw, as if her emotions were shining through a window. She could look into her eyes and see everything. Her grief, her hatred, her anger, her lust for revenge, all of the emotions that Merina thought she might have been able to see in her own eyes.

"I will. Someday I'll destroy the Thalmor, and if I don't, may my soul be cursed to Oblivion and never enter Sovngarde."

The air around them seemed to rustle at her proclamation of the ancient Nord oath in the fortress that was a reminder of what once was. What Merina would fight and die to make again. For just one second, Merina felt like she might actually be worthy of her ancestors. But the moment passed. She was just a scared, little girl. What had she done to be worthy of such a bloodline, a line of emperors and the greatest hero of Tamriel? Nothing. But she would. She would avenge her father, take back the throne, and restore her family's honor.

After that they left. The rest of the temple was just broken pottery and they couldn't stay in one place for very long, even if Merina thought they would never be found here, in the middle of nowhere. But she supposed that her parents had thought the same thing. And look where they were now.

They spent about the next three hours riding across vast, snowy plains and hills on the Silver Road until they reached a city with tall, imposing grey walls and towers. Large yellow banners with ravens hung on each side of the huge front silver gate with depictions of a woman and soldiers fighting against the Daedra of Oblivion.

"This is Bruma, where your Corvii ancestors used to rule. It's a quite a bit bigger than it was two hundred years ago, but not that much different."

"Why do the banners still have ravens if the Corviis aren't there?"

"Probably tradition. They were also Septims, or related to them, so I suppose it used to be a way of showing where their loyalties lay."

They dismounted and her mother gave a few Septims to the stable hand to keep the horse and a few extra to forget that they were ever there. When the guards opened the gates and they went in, Merina gasped and stopped dead in her tracks. The buildings and homes, even though they were made of stone, looked just like her own and the ones in the few Nord villages they'd occasionally visited when she was younger. The streets were packed with sheep, merchants, shoppers, and couriers, everyone speeding along to their destination. Their voices resonated against the buildings, their arguments and haggling, the bards' love songs, and the merchants shouting about their fine wares and prices. Her mother grabbed her arm and said, "Come on!"

But she smiled for the first time in what was now weeks and that made Merina smile too. The rushed through the crowds, almost running, pushing and shoving like everyone else. Merina had to shout to ask her mother, "Where are we going?"

She pulled Merina into one of the few places that was empty, which was a dark alley that smelled worse than horker dung.

"I know a place where we can get some disguises."

"Let me guess— another contact from twenty years ago who may or may not be dead?"

Her mother laughed at her abrasiveness. "Trust me, I don't think this skeever can die. He'll help us and stay quiet if we give him enough coin, don't worry."

The farther they walked down the alley, the darker walls became. They continued to walk until they reached a tavern made of dark grey stone with mahogany brown doors. She thought she saw what might have been blood on the wall and something on the cobblestone street that might have been piss, but honestly she didn't want to know.

"The Lusty Argonian Maid?"

"Typical Cireien. Just stay right behind me and don't say anything and you should be fine."

"I feel so safe." Merina drawled.

They walked in, Merina standing so close to her mother she was almost stepping on her feet. She didn't want to say she was clinging to her mother's skirts like a cowardly little child, but that was basically what she was doing.

The tavern was as unwelcoming from the inside as it was from the outside. The walls were somehow even darker, there was even less light, and there was the distinct smell of skooma. She could barely hear anything above the all encompassing shouts and cat calls. There were all types of races there, some Dark Elves, Redguards, Imperials, and a lot of Nords. She didn't see any Altmer though. To be fair, she didn't see many of them ever, no matter where she went.

Even though there were all types of races, they all had something in common. These were not people she would want to leave her money around, or even show them that she had any money, for that matter. All of them had at least two mugs of awful ale in front of them, all of them were dingy and dirty, all of them had weapons on hand, and she thought that she had seen a wanted poster of _at least_ one of them outside. Her mother walked right past them as if it was nothing and leaned against the bar. Merina tried her best to copy her, but had a feeling she'd failed pretty miserably.

"There something you're lookin' for, ma'm?" said a man. He was a Breton, like her mother, with oily brown hair, which was probably from a lack of bathing. His full lips were turned up in a smirk that made Merina very uncomfortable. But if his smirk made her uncomfortable, it was his eyes that took the ticket. They were almost an amber color, but not quite. They just had a look that made her want to run away very, very fast.

"Drop the act, Cireien."

"Nice to see you too, Delphine. Let me guess, you," with this he pointed at her, "need somethin'."

Delphine looked at him with something akin to disgust. "Would I ever even go near you if I didn't?"

Cireien put his hands in front of his heart and gave an over dramatic sigh. "You wound me, Delphine! 'Sides, I'd be nicer if I was you. The Thalmor would pay some pretty gold Septims if I tell them about you and your pretty little daughter."

Delphine gave him an almost cruel smile before responding. "I'm sure that they would. As I am sure that guards would pay me, oh how did you put it, some pretty old pieces if I were to tell them about your... fine establishment. I'm sure they would just love to hear about just who you're keeping company with."

Cireien glared, but was silent.

"I suppose that means you'll help me now?"

His glare continued, not really seeming sure of what else to do. He grumbled a  
few words that Merina probably didn't want to hear, but then turned around a motioned for them to come down a set of stairs into a basement. Then he went back to tend the bar.  
At first glance it was almost exactly like the upstairs part they'd been in, dark,  
dingy, dirty, and once again the smell of skooma permeated the air. But then Merina started noticing smaller details. Like copies of the papers you needed to cross into to places like Morrowind. There were sets of clothing in all shapes, sizes, colors, and types. There were also, strangely enough, buckets upon buckets of ink.

The last week or so had not exactly been the most normal for Merina, but  
she'd been handling pretty well in her opinion. But something seemed to finally snap when she saw her mother randomly bend down and start to lather her hair in ink.

"What are you doing that for?"

Her mother looked at her as if she had a screw loose. This only infuriated Merina even more.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! You never tell me anything! Why are we going to Kvatch?"

"I told you that there-"

"You said that there's a man who might still be alive and if so might take us in! And we're risking our lives for this, instead of hiding somewhere were there are no loose ends. Why?!"

At this her mother seemed to completely slump and slowly fell to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest. She had become almost a strange picture, her blonde hair stained by black dye, her once vibrant cobalt blue dress now dull and torn. Her mother had loved that dress. Merina had thought her the most beautiful woman in the world, her incomparable features were without flaw. Now, she saw wrinkles and the beginnings of grey streaks. Her mother's silvery blue eyes, so much like Merina's and Father's, now had large bags under them. She had lost weight.

"We're not going to stay in Kvatch. You are." She said in a thick voice.

Merina's eyes widened and her face contorted in confusion, then pain, and then disguised that with rage."You're leaving me?! Now that Father's dead, you're casting off the last of your  
family like a piece of trash! How—"

Her mother looked as if she had been punched square in the face. "You are not the only one who lost him!" She thundered and as she did, Merina took a step back and put her arms in front of herself, almost like a shield. She probably looked like she was about to cry, because that was what she felt like doing. She had felt like that days. She wanted to hug her mother and cry and just say she was sorry. But she wouldn't. She wasn't in the wrong. She wasn't the one who was abandoning her own child. Merina had done nothing wrong. So why did she still feel so terrible?

Her mother let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I'm sorry, Merina." Her tone then softened," I'm just doing this to protect you, don't—don't even think that this could ever—"

Merina crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. She stayed silent, forcing herself to keep down any apology or words of understanding. This was just manipulation, plain and simple. If her mother was really sorry, she wouldn't leave her. Especially not now. Her mother threw her arms up in defeat, "Fine, be that way."

She began to color her hair again. In silence, Merina started to look for a dress in her size. She didn't want to wear her mother's blue anymore. Maybe she would try red. She would just have to remember to take the amulet out of her pocket. To say losing it would be an absolute nightmare would be an understatement. It took her a while, but she did find a dress that fit. Unfortunately, it was an ugly brown.

'At least it's inconspicuous,' she thought with regret. She would have loved a red dress. It didn't matter, she didn't have anymore time to look for another. She quickly changed, pulled the amulet out of her very dirty pocket, and quickly put it on right next to the raven amulet her father had given to her for one of her birthdays. She thought it might have been her third.

By the time they had left the Lusty Argonian Maid, it was almost dark. Neither of them thought it would be wise to stay at an inn, so they kept riding in stony silence. Merina tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible to escape the awkwardness.

When she woke up, the first two things that she noticed were sun had already risen and her back was screaming in pain. The third was they were in some kind of forest so dense with trees that if Merina even tried to slightly move her arms, she would smack right into a branch. The fourth was that she and her mother still weren't speaking, even to extend the basic courtesy of a good morning. Merina didn't want to be the first to try. She was still angry, and though she would never admit it, more than a bit hurt.

The trees went on for miles, which made the landscape was so boring, so Merina fell asleep again pretty quickly. She was quickly jostled awake again, though, when a a pack of wolves jumped out at them. Merina quickly went for her iron dagger, where had she left it? Before she was even able to pull it out of her bag, her mother had quickly dispensed all of them with a few clean blows of her sword.

"We're almost there."

That depended on your definition of "almost there". In actuality it would be about one more day before they reached Kvatch. The rest of the journey consisted of staring blankly at trees, eating some apples, killing wolves, staring at more trees, feeling lost (at least in Merina's case), looking for a road (any road), and staring at more trees. The monotony was finally broken when they emerged from the forest to see the glory of the plains. Merina had always wanted to travel, but if this was what the rest of the world looked like, then it was a little overhyped in her books.

For the rest of the journey it was a collection of more hills and plains. She saw the most beautiful orange Tiger Lilies that she could have never even imagined seeing in the Jeralls. And there was more grass than she had ever thought possible. It was definitely different. But maybe it wasn't that bad.

Merina wished her father could have been there to see it with her. He had always told her about his incredible travels, ones with the Legion under a legate named Tullius. Those were her second favorites. Her very favorite stories were the ones with her mother, how she had found him and had to pull him out of battle, how she saved him from many an assassination attempt, and how they crossed the great Alik'r Desert together. How they fell in love and got married. He probably would have known everything about this place, and they would have gone on the greatest adventures. He would teach her everything he knew, like she had always wanted him to do. Now he never could.

The thought sobered Merina. Over the course of the journey, she had been trying not to think of her father. Now that she did, it cut into her like a mortal wound in the chest and made her want to throw up her small breakfast. She tried to rid herself of thoughts of him as quickly as possible, but the feeling remained. It also made her feel even worse that she was trying to forget him. That's when she found her solace, something to stop her from feeling so horrible, as if she was being crushed under the heaviest of weights. She focused the emotions that made the blood rush to her face, her hands curl into fists, and her heart race. Anger and hatred. It exhilarated, and at the same time, terrified her. It was strange and different, and yet also gave her purpose. Maybe she couldn't stay with her mother. She certainly couldn't bring back her father. But she could get her revenge on the people to blame. She could pay back the Thalmor, the killers of fathers and destroyers of families. Who knew how many others had gone through what Merina was going through now?

And that was what solidified Merina's resolve. The idea of letting what happened to her happen to others. No more children would see their fathers murdered. No more children would need to hide with a stranger. No other child would ever suffer at the hand of the Thalmor again.  
The Thalmor would never again kill parents and separate families. The Thalmor would no longer kill thousands for their beliefs or for who they Thalmor would no longer try and destroy her empire. Because she would make sure they burned. And they would know her fear and her pain and her suffering. They cared little others, feeling as if they were some master race, and they would suffer that same lack of empathy. They deserved it.

Most importantly, Merina would find the one. The thing she could barely call a woman that had slaughtered her father. Yes, Merina had no idea what she looked like besides the fact that she was a High Elf (and while there weren't a lot of them, there was obviously more than one). Yes, the only thing Merina had to go on was her voice and the fact she was a woman, which wasn't exactly the most specific of information. But it would be enough. She would find that monster and kill her. Maybe not that day or the next, but someday, she would.

She didn't know when she fallen asleep. It was a little embarrassing how she kept doing that. She supposed that she just couldn't take anymore of looking at the same trees and hills with the same flowers and animals over and and over and over again. It gave her too much time to think about things she'd just rather forget about. Now at least there was something new.

It was a city, the grandest she'd ever seen, although that wasn't saying much, seeing as she'd only seen the cities of Skyrim. As both of her parents had told her, the biggest cities in Skyrim were like little hamlets in Cyrodiil.

The first thing Merina noticed about the city were the silver gates with guards in brilliant steel flanking it on either side. The gate had pictures of a woman and an army fighting hordes of Daedra. It also showed Oblivion gates on both the left and the right side. The one in the middle was breaking with the same woman in front of it. The full moon was shining in such a way that the gates almost seemed to be lit up. The shining grey stone walls were tall and imposing, with blue banners that depicted a formidable looking wolf.

"This is Kvatch. It was completely destroyed during the Oblivion Crisis, so when Aurelia became the countess, she rebuilt to her tastes. The only thing you'll see that's even close to an original structure is the temple. She had that one built exactly the way it was built before."

Kvatch. It certainly didn't seem like a bad place to live. She would have been happy to live there, if she could have stayed with her mother.

"You'll need to get in this sack."

"What?!"

Her mother looked at her with an upturned eyebrow. This really aggravated Merina. 'Not all of us have been fugitives for twenty years,' she thought sourly.

Her mother seemed to realize this, as she explained, "The guards can't see me come in with a child and leave without one."

"Because coming in with a suspiciously large bag and leaving without it is just so much more inconspicuous?"

"This is city is all about trade, no one will give a second glance to a woman carrying a bag as long as you don't move. And it's the Festival of Aurelia. Everyone's going to be a bit more laid back. Just as long as you don't move. Now get in the bag."

Merina gave one last huff of protest, but complied. It was very dark, and far worse, very stuffy. She hoped that this wouldn't take very long. Her mother then lifted the bag up, swung it over her shoulder, and then began carrying it like Merina was nothing. Merina couldn't believe that she was that strong. True, Merina wasn't that big for someone her age (in fact most would call her tiny) but it wasn't like she was a bag of fruit.

As her mother walked, the bag swung, which wasn't the most comfortable of sensations. 'Don't move. Don't move.' She thought, even trying to breathe as little as possible.

It got a lot harder when her mother was stopped for whatever reason. The voices of the people talking to her mother were muffled through the bag, so Merina couldn't hear them. This made her very worried. She started to breathe very rapidly and it was getting harder to stay still. Was it the guards? The Thalmor? As it turned out, it was just some old drunk asking her mother for money, but Merina didn't know that, and her imagination sort of ran away with her.

But no one checked the bag, and soon enough she had calmed down. Mostly, anyway. Her mother kept walking, then took a sharp right turn, and clearly the gods smiled on Merina because her mother put down the bag.

"Can I get out of this?" Merina whispered urgently.

Merina thought she heard her mother laugh, but she most definitely heard her  
reply affirmatively. Merina practically jumped out of the bag, gasping for clean air. Now she could definitely hear her mother laughing at her ridiculousness and over dramaticness. Merina didn't care, that bag had been ridiculously stifling. She was just happy to be out of that thing.

"We can go on foot from here." Her mother said, still smiling.

"Just where exactly are we going?"

"The temple of Akatosh, we can take a few of the back streets there."

As they walked along the grey stone streets, Merina looked at the buildings. They were all made of white marble with open layouts. She saw all kinds of marble fountains and white alabaster statues. If Aurelia had designed this city, she certainly had a thing for the color white, which was why it was why it was a pretty big shock to see what exactly the temple looked like. It was like going back two hundred years. This was where Aurelia had gone, fighting Daedra and monsters as she went, to find the last direct heir to the throne. She'd had this built exactly the way it had been when Martin lived there. That was slightly... odd. When she said this, her mother gave her a look.

"It's more complicated than that. Her parents kept her as pawn for most of her life, jerking her around to give them power and then ignoring when she couldn't. So, when she actually got to make a... connection with someone, and something happened to them, she took it pretty hard. She was, well, complicated."

"How do you know all of this?"

"When I was looking for your father, I made a point to know who his relatives were."

Of course Delphine would.

"Also, it's in the history books you're supposed to read."

The temple itself wasn't ugly or odd on its own, it was just incredibly different than everything else around it. It was in a more gothic style, with light grey brick walls and dark green stain glass windows. But it stood out like a sore thumb against the white marble and alabaster that the rest of the city was made of.

Her mother began walking up the steps to the large doors, projecting an aura of confidence. Merina, on the other hand, followed her tentatively. They still didn't know if this man would help them, or even if he would still help them. What would they do if he refused? Or worse, turned them over to the Thalmor?

Her mother knocked on the door, the sound resonating through the empty street. A man opened it, his face lined with wrinkles and his hair almost completely grey. He looked up at Merina's mother, seemingly saying, 'What could be so important that you had to wake me up for in the middle of the night?'

"Where were you on the 30th of Frostfall?"

Merina was confused. Why would she be asking this man where he was on her birthday? Or, when she thought about it more carefully, why would she ask where you were the day the Great War started?

The man gave a startled smile at that, "Delphine?!"

Her mother also smiled, though it seemed more relieved than his. "Hello, Darion." Her smile then faded, and it seemed like the weight of the world had suddenly crashed down on her, and it was all she could do to try and hold it up.

The man, Brother Darion, moved closer to her, a look of concern on his face. "What's happened? Where is Adaric?"

Of course he knew her father, the priest had helped him escape Cyrodiil. She had never really thought about it. She wondered if they really knew each other, or if he was just another of her mother's many "associates". It was then that he seemed to notice Merina, as he glanced over her for the first time. "Who is this?" He said, even though he already seemed to know.

"This is Merina. Adaric, he— he sacrificed himself so we could get away."

Darion seemed to understand her meaning, without her saying anymore. "Why don't you come inside?"

Inside was a beautiful wooden room, with a tall arching walls that came into the roof. There were two long rows of light pine wood benches in front of a pulpit. Lit candles were in every part of the room, illuminating it in warm yellow light. On the inside the stained glass windows were all portraits of eight of the divines. The ninth was covered up by a dark curtain. In the center of the portraits' half circle was the picture of Akatosh, the dragon God of Time.

"Darion, I hate to ask this, but—"

"You need me to take care of Merina don't you?" He said it as a question, even though Merina got the feeling that he already knew the answer.

"Yes. You're the only one who can teach her to use the amulet."

Merina was confused, what did she mean by that? She knew that the amulet used to be used to light the dragonfires, by this point everyone knew that, but did this mean that it could be used for other things? If there were, then they had to be ways that were at least a little unlikely to get her killed. Or destroy the amulet.

But that only led to more questions. How did this man know how to use the amulet? How did he even know that she had it?

The man nodded. "Then you'll help?" Her mother said, a hint of desperation seeping back into her voice.

The man cocked his his head slightly to the right and took a good look at her.

His eyes were a deep brown, like soil in First Seed, and they seemed to almost look through her. It was slightly unnerving and Merina wanted to take a step back. But she also didn't want to seem like a coward before her mother had even left. So she held her ground and stared right back at him. He seemed to like this, as he smiled, almost fondly at her.

"She's the spitting image of her father."

No one had ever told her that before. In fact, the few people who knew her parents actually said she looked like her mother. But the fact that he said she reminded her of him made Merina very pleased. She had always wanted to remind people of her father.

"Yes, I'll take her in."

Her mother then turned to her, a small, sad smile on her face. Merina's eyes were watering and it was all she could do to hold back tears. Her mother leaned down, putting her hands on Merina's shoulders.

"Merina," she said, "I know you can do this."

The tears were now readily falling down her face, she was just trying to keep herself from sobbing. "I can't," she said.

Her mother smiled, and then said forcefully, "You might not think so, but I know that you'll be empress. The greatest."

This forced Merina to smile, but she sniffled.

"Why?"

Merina clearly didn't look convinced, so her mother continued.

"I know this. Your father knew it. He died to protect you, knowing that someday the empire would need you to be the empress. You might not think you're worthy now, but someday, I promise you will."

"The empire doesn't need a little girl."

"No. It needs a strong, confident leader. The leader I know you will become. Remember the dagger."

The dagger. It was a present her mother had given her when she was ten. Her mother had said she needed to learn to protect herself.  
"Sometimes it is the small, unexpected weapon that does the most damage," she had said.

Merina nodded, saying that she remembered and was glad that she had brought it with her. That was when her mother pulled her into a hug. Merina hugged her back, the tears flowing, and suddenly she was sobbing. She thought her mother might have been crying too, though she was probably trying to hold it in.

"I love you," her mother said, her voice thick with emotion, but she was able to keep back over emotional sobs or heart felt gestures.

Merina wasn't. With the amount of sobbing she was doing, Merina couldn't say anything. She was still resentful at her mother for not telling her, for leaving her. Maybe she always would be. But Merina loved her. This was her mother and she always would be. And no matter what, Merina would always love her. In the upcoming years, Merina would wish desperately that she had said something instead of just sobbing. It was a very long time before they saw each other again.

After that, her mother gently sat her down on one of the benches. Then, she gave her one last sad smile, and left. Merina got off the bench the moment her mother started walking away and watched her walk out the door. When she walked out the door, Merina ran to the window, staring at her until she was completely out of sight.

The priest put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll show you to your room." He said kindly. Or what she supposed was kindly. It was hard to tell, as his voice was rather gruff.

They walked down a flight of stairs to a dark hallway and then went right. They were in front of had a small door. When Darion opened the door it revealed a small, spartan room with only a bed, dresser, and chamber pot. The walls were a bluish grey, and the floor was a dark wood.

"This was Martin Septim's room, wasn't it?" She asked, but she already knew the answer. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. He looked at her strangely, as if he was expecting an explanation, which Merina didn't have, and nodded. Merina folded her arms in front of her. She felt uncomfortable sleeping in a dead man's room. Even if it wasn't the same bed and that was two hundred years ago. It still made her feel strange. And utterly creeped out.

That night, she tossed and turned. She couldn't get the image of a man who had died a violent death sleeping in this spot out of her head. When she thought about it, the image of Martin that she had seen from pictures would sometimes get replaced with that of her father.

'That's it,' she thought, 'I'm moving this bed.' She scampered out of bed, while trying to make as little noise as possible, and pulled at the bed with all of her might. It moved maybe an inch. This would take forever. That got her thinking. 'Mother said something about training to use the amulet. Maybe...'

It was stupid. It probably wasn't going to work. But she was going to try anyway. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She could feel the amulet grow hot against her chest. It got hotter and hotter, until Merina felt like she was in an inferno, the fire almost touching her. She opened her eyes, gasping for breath, and fell to the floor. She felt like she hadn't eaten for days and was exhausted. That was when she looked up to see the bed on the other side of the room.

Brother Darion ran in, searching for the source of the noise. When he saw her lying on the ground staring at the amulet, which really just looked like a gold necklace that had an abnormally large ruby in it, in shock. He then saw the bed and the cracks it created in the wall.  
"We'll have to start tomorrow."

Merina was to tired to ask what he meant. He picked her up from under her arms and practically carried her to bed. She fell asleep immediately. That was when the nightmares started.

A/N: Ok, there are going to be some changes in lore, some major. When there is one, I'll mention it in an author's note. One is right in the summary, so I won't mention it. Here are the big ones. One; I refuse to believe that there weren't at least a couple cousins of the Septims. This was a hundereds of years old dynasty, that's just not possible. Two; the wiki says that the grandson that succeeded Tiber Septim was succeeded by his cousin. But it also only mentions one kid (a son) of T.S. For the grandson to have a Septim cousin, T.S. needed to more than one kid. So I say that he had two daughters. Three, Morrowind. If you take all your troops out of two of your provinces and it's getting invaded and no one mentions this, I take it to mean that Morrowind has unofficially left the empire. Hope you enjoy! By the way, if you're re-reading this and you think that's it's different, that's because it is. I used to use a different application to write all my chapters until chapter 4, so that's where the wonky line breaks had and I've now fixed them. There were also some small spelling errors and sentences that I needed to change. I was really just trying to improve this, because I don't that the original 2 chapters had the same quality as the later chapters do. Now this is (hopefully) better. Chapter 2 is also going to get a second edit and revision, though it's going to be smaller, because there weren't any weird line breaks or spelling errors.

Beta by vaguelyfestive


	2. The Beginning part two

"_While more of Merina is known from this eleven year period of her life, there is still little information about the woman. But it was here that she would meet some of the more important people in her life and she would gain some of her greatest weapons."  
_ _~ Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion  
_  
The nightmare was always the same. She was back home, in the mountains, alone. She would hear a noise behind her and turn around. That was when she saw him. Her father, his eyes lifeless, his shirt covered in blood.

She would stumble back, wanting to look away, but for some reason, she couldn't. She would take another, stumbling step back and trip over something. Merina would always hear a thundering sound in the distance. She would push herself back up and wouldn't even look at what she tripped over. Merina didn't know why she wouldn't look at the obstacle, no matter how many times she had the dream, but she never did. She would just start running, from what she didn't know. She would just keep running and running until somehow she was along a mountain pass. That was when she would turn around to try and see what she was running from.

A giant, surrounded by smoke and shadow. Merina could never tell what exactly the giant looked like, but when she heard it speak, she would start running again. She would hear a sound, that was thunder and yet at the same time not, through the sky. She would run, but still feel the licking of flames against her heels. Even though she just keep running and running, it was never enough.

She would wake up, gasping for breath, in a cold sweat. Even if it was the middle of the night, she couldn't fall back to sleep. So, she would tiptoe out of her room to the temple's small library and read. She had only been in Kvatch for maybe a week, but she was starting to run out of books. And the priest, Brother Darion, was starting to notice how tired she was. Or he was noticing at how she was completely and utterly failing at his training. Merina liked to think that was because she completely and utterly exhausted. She didn't think her pride could take it if it wasn't.

Everyday, she was sitting on the temple's floor, cross legged and with her eyes closed. Three small stones were in front of her. Brother Darion stood somewhere behind her.

"You have to be completely calm. Breathe in slowly through your nose and out slowly through your mouth."

Merina tried, but it sounded more like a cross between an impatient huff and an annoyed sigh. Which, in all honesty, was what it was.

"Try to think of something peaceful. The deer, the grass, the sun."

'But deer are eaten, the grass gets trampled, and the sun burns your skin,' She thought cynically.

She tried anyway. She thought of the summers at home. She realized that they were hardly what anyone else would call summer, but she still called them that. It was the small two month period where the sun would actually be up after six, the snowstorms stopped, and the ice and frost started actually started to melt. It was at that time, where if Merina went outside, she could almost feel warm. She could wear five layers instead of six. Those months were wonderful.

"Now, focus those calm thoughts on lifting the stones. Try lifting one of the stones."

What? What did he mean by that? How in Oblivion was she supposed to "focus" those thoughts into levitating the stone? But she had to try.

'Okay, rock, float.' She thought.

She opened one eye. The rock hadn't even moved. Just like it hadn't the past thirty times they had tried this exercise.

"This is pointless. I can't do it."

He looked as frustrated as she felt.

"Perhaps if you concentrated more, then you—"

Merina felt her blood boil.

"Well, if it's that easy, then why don't you do it? Oh, that's right, you _can't_! _You've_ never been able to do this in your life. But of course you're just the perfect teacher and that, well, if I can't do it the problem is me!"

As she said this, she didn't notice the fact that the amulet had begun to glow a brilliant red. She did take notice, however, when the jar that flew across the room and smashed into the wall by itself.

"This is why I am trying to teach you! You never think before you act! If you can not control yourself, the power of Akatosh will consume you!"

Merina stormed out and slammed the doors behind her. She could not take another second in that pompous jerk's presence.

When she got out, she just went left. She walked straight out of town, not caring who saw her stomp away, fists clenched and back hunched with a glare on her face. She didn't have a clue where she was going and didn't quite care as long as it was far away from him. She just kept walking and walking until she found the field of flowers.

It was filled with orange tiger lilies that stretched as far as the eye could see, for miles and miles. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

But her anger was still there and just thinking about it made it rise back to the surface. Now that she was alone, it boiled over. She threw the amulet on the ground. For a second, she felt a rush of satisfaction. Then she thought, 'Oh Gods, what have I done?!'

What if she had broken it? What if it wouldn't work anymore? Had she doomed the world?! Once again, what had she _done_?! She immediately rushed over to it. Luckily, it was fine, not even a scratch or mark on it and Merina breathed a sigh of relief. Gods, how had she been so dumb? Brother Darion was right, she didn't think of the consequences.

'Well, no more,' she thought with determination. It was time to shape up. Or at the very least, attempt to. She glanced at the amulet, which was still resting in her hand. If she didn't have any self control, she was going to get herself killed. Even if she didn't have the amulet, there was the Thalmor to think about. They might not know where she was, or even that she existed, but they were still a threat. Because someday, they would know. Someday, they would find her. But when they came, she would be ready. She was going to have to be.

She let out a long sigh and slowly sat down, her brown dress fitting in with the speckled flowers. She still held the amulet in her hand, her thumb rubbing over its large ruby unconsciously. What was it he had said? Something about the power of Akatosh.

A switch seemed to go off in her brain. He had said the power of Akatosh. Not her own power. She was just channeling it to work for her.

She put the amulet on and closed her eyes.

'In through your nose,' she thought.

She took in a long, deep breath.

'Out through your mouth,'

And let it out.

She felt the amulet grow warm against her chest once again. But instead of feeling like she was on fire, she just felt a bit warm. In through her nose and out through her mouth. In through her nose and out through her mouth.

She felt bad for yelling. He felt like a stranger to her and maybe, just maybe, she taking out her resentment of the situation on him. Maybe, just maybe, she should have acted differently.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

It couldn't have been easy for him either. After all, she was a stranger too. She doubted that he liked this anymore than she did. And what had he gotten, to make this any easier? He had gotten a brat.

In through her nose and out through her mouth.

She should apologize. She would apologize as soon as she got back, and she would inform him of her success. Maybe it would make him happy to know that she wasn't a total failure. But she couldn't do that right now. Even though she may have, alright, probably was in the wrong, she was still angry.

As she was doing this thinking, there were two things she didn't see. The first was that as she breathed in, the petals of the flowers contracted inward, like they were still buds. And when she breathed out, they burst open again, once again revealing their beauty. Inwards and outwards. Breathing in and breathing out.

The second thing was that someone was watching her. Now, if she had known this, she would not have just sat there. She probably would have beat them to a pulp and then made them swear not to tell anyone what they saw. If that watcher told someone, that someone would tell someone else, and it was just a matter of who told who before the Thalmor found out. But she was concentrating, so she didn't see them.

The watcher was a young boy her age. He was taller than her, as most people were, with brown hair and tan skin. He was staring in confusion and perhaps a bit of fear at her. He summoned up his courage, though, and tentatively started walking towards her.

"Um... hello. I'm— I'm Avitus."

Merina's eyes flew open. She stared at him, not knowing how to react. He had probably seen what she doing. Should she run away? No, that wouldn't do much good now, he'd already seen her face. Besides, for some reason, she felt she could trust him. So she she said, as confidently as she could, "I'm Merina."

She then looked at him and added, rather bluntly, "What are you doing here?"

"I, um, I—"

Merina suddenly felt like an idiot. It was probably personal. Stupid! The first person she meets other than Brother Darion and she mucks it up her first two sentences.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that."

She was relieved to see him smile. "No, it's okay. My father went to the Imperial City. I'm not going to see him till Frostfall. I just... I need my own space at times. When Father's gone, Mother treats me like a baby." He smiled a lopsided grin. He had really nice smile."I haven't seen you before. Why are you here?"

Now it was her turn to stutter. Stupidly enough, she hadn't thought of an excuse as to why she was mysteriously in Kvatch. She was never going to make that mistake again. She started making things up on the fly.

"My parents, they— they died of... of plague. Brother Darion is my uncle, so they sent me to live with him."

He seemed to realize that this was less than the truth, but left it at that. They stared at the ground in awkward silence. Merina was the first to speak. "I feel like that went wrong. Do you want to try again?"

He gave another wonderful smile.

"I'm Avitus."

She gave a small smile that was almost a smirk, only the left side of her mouth going up.

"I'm Merina."

It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

They went to town together. Avitus knew all the best shortcuts and hiding places. Just as they were walking to the northern side of town, they stopped.

There were three children, each of a different race, in the road. The smallest, and probably the youngest seeing as the "high elves", as they called themselves were some of the tallest people in Tamriel, was backing away from the other two. One was a Nord, with the typical height and bulk, and the other was a Wood Elf, with their typical looks as well. He was probably the oldest as he was almost as tall as the Nord.

'Great,' Merina thought, 'Even Wood Elves are taller than me.'

She then saw the look of terror on the Altmer's face. Avitus saw her looking and tugged at her shoulder.

"Come on, let's go."

"What? Why?"

She then saw the two boys proceed to beat up the third.

"There's nothing we can do. Come on!"

But Merina simply shrugged his hand off her shoulder and began to walk forward.

"Leave him alone."

They took one look at her and laughed. Admittedly, she wasn't very fearsome looking. She was small for her age and at least a head shorter than them. She had no scars or battle wounds to make her tough. Her hair was a dark blonde and delicate. Except for her harsh features, she looked more like a story's damsel in distress rather than its knight.

Their laughing came to an abrupt stop when she knocked the Wood Elf over with a hard kick to the shin. As he fell, she slammed her fist into his nose. She heard a loud crack, and turned around. Avitus had knocked the Nord down as well. The two boys ran away pretty quickly after that.

Avitus smiled a lopsided grin. "You fight pretty well. For a girl."

She narrowed her eyes at that last part, but smiled. "Yeah, a girl who just knocked over a guy twice her size."

"Let's see you do that without surprise."

"It'd be just as easy. And I'm always surprising."

"We'll see about that."

By the time they had finished boasting to each other about their skills in combat, the Altmer boy was gone. It barely registered to her that she didn't think of his as Thalmor. She supposed it was hard to think of someone as frightening when they were cowering on the ground in terror. If they were all like that, then she wondered why anyone was afraid of them. Because she wasn't. Of course she wasn't.

They continued on to their destination, through a second set of silver gates. Aurelia Corvii seemed to have thing for silver as well as marble. Weird. They kept walking until the reached a large ruin of crumbling stone.

"What is that?"

As it turned out, it was the ruins of an Oblivion Gate.

"It was the first." Avitus said. He got a gleam in his and spoke with almost adoration about Aurelia Corvii and Martin Septim.

"She should have taken the throne!" He blurted out. But he seemed to regret it it immediately as he quickly added, "But don't tell anyone I said that!"

Merina tried to change the subject and he seemed relieved when she did by saying, "Why didn't they get rid of it?"

"I don't know. Marble's expensive? Ran out of money?"

"I heard that Aurelia Corvii was the richest person in the world. Couldn't they just use that money?"

Avitus scoffed. "Are you kidding? After she died she locked it up real tight. No one knows where it is. I've been looking for years and I've never gotten a clue."

"Well, you didn't have me."

He looked skeptical. "How are we going to have any idea where to even start looking?"

It was then that she knew he agreed. "Simple, books. I'll look in the temple's library."

"What about me?"

"Just how high up is your father on the political ladder?"

Avitus immediately looked suspicious. "I never mentioned my father's political career."

"No, but you did mention that he would be gone for months. And your clothes are too nice and you have too much free time for him to be poor or a merchant who would have to travel for so long. So, how important is he?"

He really did have nice clothes. He was wearing dark green silk and his hands didn't have any callouses. Not that she was looking at them. All right, she had been. But her parents had taught her to look for the slightest details about people. They said that could mean the difference between life and a sword in your gullet or poison in your drink.

"He's important enough. Why?"

"Because that means you can get into the castle's library— it has one, right?"

He nodded. It was just then that Merina realized how late it was getting. The sun was already setting. And she still needed to apologize to Brother Darion.

"I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow?"

He smiled once again. "Yeah, you will."

They spent the next year or so looking for it, but they never found it. They moved on to other things. Avitus' mysterious father— Merina was beginning to think he was just a figment of Avitus' imagination seeing as she hadn't even been told his name— had hired a swordsman for Avitus to train under. It was an unspoken agreement between Avitus and her that Merina would get lessons as well.

One time they were sparring with wooden swords under the watchful eyes of the teacher Marius. Avitus aimed a blow at her arm that she narrowly avoided. They had been training for three weeks now and both had learned the other's strategy. Merina was not as strong as Avitus, but she was faster and could last longer. So he tried to hit areas that would slow her down and she tried to simply stay out of reach until he was tired. By this point, though, they knew each other so well, that they just fought to a standstill. Merina could no longer tire him out and she was still too fast for him to get.

Marius seemed to be growing tired of it, as he shouted, "Stop!"

They both froze in place, Merina about dodge another strike and Avitus' sword just above her right elbow.

He told them that they were going to do something different now. He tied a blindfold over Merina's eyes and told Avitus to try and hit her with his sword.

Merina could feel her heart thumping and she was trying to hear everything. It wasn't that hard. Avitus walked loudly, even when he was trying to be sneaky. She could hear him coming from the left, closer and closer. At the last minute, she quickly moved out of the way. Wooden swords might not kill, but they sure did sting. She took the blindfold off and was rewarded by seeing Marius smile. He had never smiled at her performance in all the weeks that they had been training.

He said that she was going to learn something a little different than Avitus. He began to teach her all of these tracking skills, how to sneak, and how to use a bow well. He taught her how to hide herself better in a crowd. He said that she kept her back to straight. It was true, she never slouched. He showed her all the berries that could change the color of hair and how to change her voice. She wondered how he knew all of this, but she never asked. She got her answer when she saw a thin, steel blade in a dark leather scabbard. It looked just like her mother's.

In that moment, she felt more elated than she had since before she had left home. Here was someone that could understand who she was, someone who could tell her about her mother. She wondered how she could ask him, someway so that if she was wrong, he wouldn't know. She took a deep breath, summoning all of her courage, knowing that this was a risk, but also needing to know.

"Where were you on the 30th of Frostfall?"

She had practically whispered it and for a moment, she thought she hadn't even heard her. But she saw the look on his face, one of fear and hope, and she knew that he had.

"What did you say?"

She told him her story, leaving out just who her father was. He told her his. He was one of the Blades agents in the Summerset Isles just before the air started and barely escaped the purge. He had survived by changing his name at least a dozen times and moving around all the time, like her parents had. He wouldn't tell her what his name was originally and it didn't really matter. He said he preferred his new one anyway.

Avitus and she kept training under Marius for the next three months. He got a lot better and so did she. They still couldn't best each other. No matter how quiet or sneaky Avitus was, he rarely surprised her. And no matter how fast or skilled with a blade she got, she still had to very hard to hit him with her sword. She was leagues beyond him with the bow, but she could never hope to be as good as him with the shield. If she even attempted to scratch him when he had that thing, she was doomed to fail. They both preferred the one handed blade and were about equal in skill. Merina might have learned the basics from her parents, but Avitus was a quick learner. She wasn't. It had taken her about a year to learn those basics. Avitus could learn a technique from Marius in one or two lessons, Merina took at least five or six. But once she got something, she had it down. Perhaps Avitus had natural talent. But Merina could wait and let things take their time. She could spend weeks trying to master one thing. Because when her time came, it wouldn't be raw talent that got her through. It would be careful, cold practice. Knowing everything she needed to know to the letter. If she just depended on being born good, she was going to fail. Very easily and very quickly, as a laughing stock. Merina felt that it was worse to practice the same thing for days on end instead of that. So she continued to practice. Avitus might know things she didn't, yet he couldn't beat her calm mastery of what she did.

Everything was going fine, she was learning both the lessons Marius taught them and how to use the amulet from Brother Darion. She had finally managed to move those rocks, but Merina had a long way to go until she was ready to light the Dragonfires. Trying to put something that wasn't there into existence was a different level of magnitude from moving a couple of rocks. She was progressing though. For the past two months, she had been learning how to use the amulet to make a barrier, like one of the ward spells, but more powerful. She had managed to do it, but only about a second. But she was pleased with herself. It had taken her a month to get any sign of a reaction at all from the amulet, so this was a good start. The only bad part was the Temple rituals, which involved standing for hours, no open windows, and a lot of smoke from incense. But it wasn't so terrible. Some of the time it was pretty fun and she got into it. She was just terrified that she would drop the candles.

And then Marius disappeared. No one had any idea of where he could have gone, but when Brother Darion said they were going to find something sacred to the followers of Akatosh in some cave the next day, Merina had a pretty good idea. It was reaffirmed when she returned, Avitus mentioned the swarms of Thalmor that had come. He said they were looking for Talos worshipers.

"But everyone stopped worshiping Talos after the treaty!" He said, and then muttered under his breath, "At least publicly."

In that moment, Merina understood terror. She would never admit it, but she felt like she was going to puke, faint, and scream all at the same time. She felt weak at the knees, and if she was honest, even with herself she felt the feeling that only terror could produce. That all encompassing feeling that she was going to die. She just wanted to curl in a ball, hide, and just pray to all the Nine, and even the Daedra, that they wouldn't find her. That feeling went away, at least a little, when Avitus mentioned that they had left about three weeks ago. He must have seen the strange expression on her face.

That feeling didn't go away and festered for most of that year. Had she been the reason that Marius was caught, was it her fault? She, once again, couldn't sleep. The nightmares had come back. She could barely eat. She was naturally small, but she just seemed to shrink in. She could have been caught, she could have died. Or worse. She had heard the stories.

Things got better during the weeks before the Festival of Aurelia came around. The festival was the last day of the year, the 31st of Evening Star, so most of the food was gone. So the city was packed with farmers and hunters, merchants with the most beautiful fabrics, mages throwing fire, and everything was dirt cheap. Silver banners with ravens flew from every high latch and sign. Alkanet flowers were everywhere and it was much warmer than what Merina was used to. It was weird, there wasn't any snow and the weather wasn't that different from summer. It was a little colder, but not that much.

Avitus was ecstatic to have his father back, even if he didn't say it. Merina still hadn't met him. In fact, she didn't even know Avitus' last name. Maybe it was embarrassing. Maybe he had an unsavory ancestor. She was going to have to ask him. She didn't feel right not even knowing her closest and only friend's last name.

Avitus was home more often, and Merina didn't blame him, but she still missed him. Sometimes, she secretly wanted the man to leave again so she could have her friend back, but immediately felt horrible. She did want to meet his father. He kept telling her that he was waiting for the right time. This made her worry about just who he was living with, but Avitus assured her that there was nothing to worry about. She took his word for it and hoped she was making the right decision.

As it turned out, she was, which was very relieving. At first, the man looked like an older version of Avitus. He had the brown eyes, with the same fire, and brown hair, though his was mostly grey and was in the standard military cut. But when she looked a little longer, she saw the real differences. Avitus' father carried himself differently. He wasn't a Nord or Elf, but the way he carried himself made him appear taller than he was. And his eyes were hard. True, were the same color as his son's, but they had a colder light to them. As if he had seen things that made everything else look like a stroll in the park. When she learned who he was, that made sense.

His voice was crisp and clear, with an accent that she didn't recognize, when he said, "Who is this?"

"Father, this is— this is Merina, the girl I told you about. Remember?"

Merina was rather flattered that he'd mentioned her, but didn't say anything.

"Oh yes, I remember. You would not stop heaping praise on our entire journey." The man didn't sound angry, just exhausted. But he smiled and turned his head to her, "Do I know you?"

She couldn't imagine where they could have met. She traveled around Skyrim a little when her father was still alive, but they never stayed in one place for long. She would have remembered meeting this man.

"I don't think so." She didn't exactly know what to call him and saying sir sounded like groveling.

"I am General Tullius."

She knew that name. That was the name of her father's commander! She was about to mention that, but then she remembered her lie. She had said that Brother Darion was her uncle—specifically her father's brother. The Imperial Army kept records of their soldiers and they probably mentioned family. Her story would be blown apart.

Pretty soon, Avitus pulled her away, apologizing for his father's inability to make small talk, which Merina hadn't minded and she said as much. He then brought her to a small corner near a platform.

"This is the best place to see the end of the ceremony!" He chattered on about it, seeming unable to stop talking. That was probably from the time, it was almost midnight. Pretty soon, people started lighting scented candles and burning incense. Merina didn't like incense. Back in the temples she'd gone to in Skyrim, they had never burned incense. It just reminded her of how far away she was from home. And from her mother. And her father, who was so far away she would never see him again. She tried focusing on other things, but that feeling of sadness and longing didn't leave her.

A welcome distraction came when the portrait of Aurelia was brought out. It was apparently done in her lifetime after she became Countess of Kvatch and was only brought out for the festival. That was probably why it looked so different from the others. Merina was up close, so she could see it better than most people.

Two hundred years ago, the thing was probably rather grand, but its glory days were long over. In more than one place, the fabric was frayed. The paint was duller in the left corner. Its silver frame had long since dulled. The one thing that revealed the augustness of the thing was Aurelia herself.

She was sitting down in some sort of ornate chair holding herself as if she really was an empress. She wore a dark blue silk dress in a traditional cut with wide, draping sleeves and framed with silver embroidery. She had long black hair that was partially held up by a pearl and sapphire encrusted clip. Her long face was her most striking feature. It was beautiful, with full lips in a half smile, high cheekbones, and eyes the same shade as Merina's. Her eyes were her best feature in Merina's opinion. Not because they were the only feature that they shared. Even though it was only a portrait, those eyes still had light in them. They gave off a sense of intelligence, and a bit of coldness. The smile only heightened that impression, looking mysterious and full of secrets. Reveling in the fact that she knew things that you did not and never would. Just like the woman herself did. How she somehow managed to hide basically years of her life and some very important details, Merina still wondered how she had hid all of her money for two hundred years. She was also wondering about how realistic the portrait was.

The ceremony ended with the burning of a picture of Ocato— apparently people really hated him here— and a speech about the life of Aurelia and how wonderful she was. It was presented by the Count, who was unfortunately a rather dull orator. Merina almost fell asleep a few times. Avitus told her that everyone did that at least once. Besides, it was late, the speaker was boring, and she had heard the story at least a hundred times. She could basically tell it word for word the way her father did at this point.

Everyone who was old enough, which she wasn't, was awake, however, for the final part of the festival. The drinking part. When Merina was older, she would regret participating in that.

The years passed and Merina and Avitus changed. Merina grew a little taller, but not much. Everyone still thought she was younger than she actually was. That would usually be a compliment, but since it was because of her height, she thought of it as more of an insult. She hadn't been an ugly duckling who turned into a swan. Her eyes were had gotten even harder looking and some people said that they were intimidating, which was just fine with her. She needed all the help she could get in that regard. The harsh look wasn't helped by the fact that her eyebrows usually made her look like she was glaring. Everyone said she didn't smile enough and that she looked a bit cold. Her nose was still a little too big and a bit pointy for her face. Her face was thin and angular. Her hair was a sort of pretty feature, she supposed. When she pinned it up, sometimes she at least looked the part of an empress. If she stood on stilts.

Avitus changed too. He got tall, well at least compared to Merina. Everyone looked tall compared to her. He got, well, more muscled. And his hair grew out. And maybe, just maybe, he wasn't so bad on the eyes these days, but that was something she would never tell him.

Merina and Avitus stayed friends, even though they started doing different things. Avitus was the typical soldier and was always learning new ways to use a sword. Merina still like learning those things too, but she was liking reading up on tactics more and more as she got older. She was always reading about the empire's past leaders and their strategies. They both wanted to join the Legion when they were old enough. A chance for glory and adventure! They could see the world! And simultaneously follow in their fathers' footsteps and step out of their shadows.

But whenever Merina mentioned this desire to Brother Darion, it always into a fight.

"Brother Darion just understand that—"

"Understand what? That you are risking your life —and may I remind you, the world!— in some vain attempt for glory!"

At this Merina gave a groan of frustration, "If I just stay here all of my life waiting for some old geezer to die and then say, oh by the way, I'm a girl with no experience but I have the right to lead you, no one will take me seriously! They'll just laugh in my face!"

"They will accept you, you're a—"

"What, I'm a Septim? Something I will never be able to prove? How am I supposed to rule a people I don't know?! The Empire isn't just Cyrodiil and it's certainly not just Kvatch!"

This, in her opinion, was pretty reasonable. But Brother Darion just couldn't accept it. He simply refused to look at her, turning around in the opposite direction. He almost whispered, in the softest, least harsh tone she had ever heard him use in six years she had lived in Kvatch, "I just want to keep you safe."

'That old codger just can't accept that I'm not ten anymore. I'm only sixteen, but I'm not a child!'

But the other part of her mind that perhaps wasn't so angry said traitorous thoughts, 'But you're not an adult either.'

She told that part of her mind where to stick it. Then, when he tried to patronize her on how he knew best once again, she walked out. And slammed the door.

It felt pretty satisfying.

Whenever they fought, she would air her complaints to Avitus. Which was a lot. He sympathized. He and his father were having the same problem, just for basically the completely opposite reason. His father wanted to bring to the Imperial City. Avitus didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay a year or two before, as he said, "Spending every waking moment in my father's presence." Apparently, they were arguing even more than Merina was with her guardian. It upset Merina. Avitus and his father had always been so close.

At about the end of that year the general got his way. Avitus first said that no matter what, he wasn't going. Then, when he internally accepted it was happening, ranted to Merina, like she ranted to him, about how unfair it was and how his father obviously hated him. Merina didn't agree with that last part. She didn't see the General very often, let alone knew him. But from the few time she had seen him, it was always with his son and the exact opposite of hatred. When she pointed that out, he just sulked. They didn't talk when he sulked. He was acting strange.

In fact, he'd been acting strange for a while. He was always stuttering and blushing. He never did that stuff. In fact, it was always a contest of which of the two was more confident. Or more arrogant, as Brother Darion would have said. It was weird. Could he—?

No. Not possible.

To be honest, Merina was conflicted. On one hand, she'd kind of been hoping for this. She had also been blushing, and stuttering, and always sounding like an idiot! Just thinking about him and her, made her entire face flush red and brought a smile to her face. But she wasn't able to say anything. What if he didn't feel the same way? She would ruin their entire friendship. Besides, she would never be able to look him in the face again after a debacle like that. And if he liked her back, and things didn't work out, that would pretty much be the death of their friendship. It would be like stomping on it and throwing it in the trash. Then burning it. Then spitting on the ashes. And besides, why try something new, when what they had was already great?

So the next time they spoke, she didn't tell him. Or the next time. Or the next. She talked about dumb stuff like the weather. Or that book, _Mixed Unit Tactics_, which she must have read a million times by that point. She'd had to hide the book with Avitus because Brother Darion didn't like her reading it anymore. He thought it made her want to join the Legion, which it did. And the idea of her joining the Legion was about as horrible as her going to work for Merhunes Dagon. Possibly worse. He always pursed his lips when he saw her reading it and he'd get into a mood. Either he'd get all grumpy, well grumpier than usual, or he'd get all nostalgic. So she'd hidden the book to give him some peace of mind. She'd complain about stuff like that. Stuff that didn't sound out of the ordinary. Except talking about the weather. That didn't sound like her at all.

The months passed and it was inevitably spring and Avitus had to leave. The night before, he came in her room and shook her awake. It took her a second to even think coherently, it was the middle of the night and she had been asleep, this had better be important. So, obviously, the first thing she said was, "What in Oblivion are you doing here in the middle of the night?! And— wait how did you even get in here?"

He shrugged, "Lock pick," he held it up and she wanted to smack it out of his hand, "Just follow me!"

When her face showed she had no inclination to even think about getting out of bed, he added, "Please?"

He smiled when he said that. Damn him.

With that, she got out, grumbling about horrible friends who woke her up in the middle of the night with no reason, and followed. He took her back to the field of tiger lilies.

"You remember how we met, don't you?"

She gave him withering look. Of course she did. Was this all he had woken her up for?

"I wanted to know, well I still want to know what were you doing? You never told me."

Merina stayed quiet. She hadn't told him. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she trusted him with her life, she'd just never found the right words. It wasn't something that she liked to talk about. Because if she told part of the story, she would have to unravel her carefully constructed web of lies. Like the fact that Brother Darion wasn't her uncle. Or that she wasn't from Whiterun. Or the fact that everything she told about her life was at least partially a lie. It wasn't something she wanted to bring up just before her friend was about to leave. And he was going to the lion's lair. The Imperial City. If word got to the Emperor or any of the Medes about who she was, she would be dead in five seconds flat. And the Imperial City was home to the great Thalmor Embassy of the Empire. If they found out... well she didn't like to think of what they would do.

She stared at the ground for a second longer, and took a deep breath (her usual coping mechanism when she was doing something that scared her). Then she took another.

She opened her mouth to speak. Then she closed it. She still didn't have the words to explain. She'd never had to. She took another deep breath, then took the amulet out of her pocket and held it up in the moonlight.

"Do you know what this is?"

He stared in disbelief, his mouth hanging open, eyes as big as saucers, eyebrows raised as far as the could go.

He managed to stutter out, "That— that can't be... it— it was destroyed."

He looked up at her, confusion in his eyes. She explained everything, the entire story pouring out like a roaring river, raging and unstoppable. His eyes got wider and wider as she went along. When she mentioned the part about her father's murder and how she was left in Kvatch for her own safety, he said in almost a whisper, "I'm sorry."

"What for? You didn't do it," She said, waving it off, even as her other hand curled into a fist. She didn't want his pity.

"Do you know where your mother is? I mean, have you heard from her?."

"No." She said flatly, with a bit of finality. She didn't even know if her mother was alive or dead. And she did not like talking about it. Ever.

They didn't talk after that and just sat in comfortable silence. Pretty soon, they fell asleep.

When Avitus left for the Imperial City, they promised to write letters to each other. Originally, they did. It was rather depressing to hear about how exciting his life was, when her's was just the same. The boring same old same old. Her letters were probably duller than the history of socks. Over time, the amount of letters they sent just got smaller and smaller until they weren't writing to each other at all.

So most of the time, she was just training or reading books on tactics or, her new field of interest: magic. She had gotten bored with reading the same books over and over again. So when Brother Darion gave her some books on Restoration magic, she and leapt at the chance. Learning how to heal yourself in a fight was pretty handy. Or how to block things without giving the amulet away.

Unfortunately, she happened to be atrocious when it came to magic.

On the bright side, she'd learned even more from the amulet, but on her own time she was learning things the old priest might not approve of. Like how to use it to destroy something. Brother Darion was of the mind that it should only be used for defense. Merina's philosophy on it was that it was a high grade weapon and she'd be a fool not to at least learn how to use it.

The other thing she did was her "etiquette" lessons. Brother Darion had gotten it into his head that she needed to learn how to be a proper lady. And that if she did, suddenly she wouldn't want to join the army.

Well, he was halfway wrong. It only made her want to join the army more. She thought that learning which fork was for salad was the stupidest thing she had ever heard of. But she had to admit that some of it was actually useful, like sewing for suturing a wound or repairing clothes. And knowing how to walk gracefully and look a little taller might be useful later. At least she looked a bit taller. It was hard to look intimidating when everyone literally looked down on her. And knowing the basics of how to be charming couldn't hurt.

The awkwardness with her old friend didn't go away when Avitus returned. His life had gotten so much more exciting, just like his letters said. And hers was still the same boring day to day stuff. He seemed, well, more cultured than she did. He had been able to meet dignitaries from all types of places. Even if he swore up and down and on all the Divines that he hated those social functions. Merina thought that they didn't sound bad. Certainly better than being stuck in Kvatch. To make a short story shorter, there was now a distance there wasn't before.

But at least Brother Darion was taking her on more snipe hunts for artifacts. Most of the time, strangely enough, the artifacts were in Skyrim. Which meant long trips through the bitter cold and bad roads where you always had to watch out for bandits or the most vicious wolves. But Merina loved the traveling. She liked seeing the new places and meeting the locals. Even though she hated the freezing weather, two of the cities farthest north were some of the most beautiful she had ever seen. Solitude with its Blue Palace hanging on a cliff and the stone architecture of Windhelm. The city of Winterhold was kind of sad, but she had gotten to go to the College! They had even taught her a few things on magic! They'd had to leave quickly though, which was pretty disappointing. She could have stayed in that library forever.

The most beautiful region to her was the Reach and its capital, Markarth, was just as beautiful. Originally built by the Dwemer, it was a city of dark grey stone and bronze built right into the rock. She felt like a hero from the old stories in that ancient city. But while the town was beautiful, it was the complete opposite of comfortable. Everything was made of rock. Including the beds. Needless to say, she didn't get much sleep there. Even if the beds were normal, she probably wouldn't have gotten much sleep anyway. The city freaked her out. Which was justified because someone was murdered in the streets right in front of her eyes. The murderer said something like, "For the Forsworn!" What in Oblivion were the Forsworn?! Brother Darion said to just stay quiet. She would have demanded an answer, but the look on his face made her think twice. That night they stayed in the inn. He still wouldn't tell her, even when they were alone. He waited three days, until they had left the city and were halfway back to Whiterun.

The Forsworn were a group of rebels in the Reach that wanted to separate from Skyrim and the Empire. Seventeen years before, at the start of the Great War, they had staged a rebellion and had taken over Markarth. The Empire had no time to deal either them until the end of the war. Then Ulfric Stormcloak was sent and crushed them.

"But they're still around, aren't they?"

"Yes, but no where near their full strength. Now they hold out in the hills and kill anyone who goes near. Take my advice, they might not be what they once were, but those barbarians are dangerous. Stay as far away from them as you can."

They continued traveling around. Each time they went to a city, she hoped they'd find her mother, but they never did. By the time they returned to Cyrodiil, Merina was eighteen and they had more artifacts of saints and heroes than they could want. They had at one point tried to find Auri-El's bow, but they were as successful with that as Merina was at finding her mother.

Things were still as distant with her old friend, which was only aided by time. They continued to go after their own interests and didn't even try to mend the bridge anymore. Merina was upset about it, but that distance had been coming for years. She wouldn't change a thing of what their friendship used to be, but they were different people now. They would say hello if they saw each other, which wasn't often, and maybe smile a little, but nothing more. Besides, he was in the Imperial City most of the time and she was still here. Tending to the temple, holding the candles during ceremonies, handing out food to the poor, all things she did most of the time. She still thought was boring and stifling and wasting her life away, but she didn't realize how much she was going it all. She didn't realize how good she had it until she lost it.

She lost it all about three months before she was twenty-one, on a night that until then, seemed perfectly normal.

Author's note: So chapter 2 has been revised, the weird spelling errors are gonem and I'm a bit happier with the chapter now. I still own nothing of Skyrim or the Elder Scrolls.


	3. Unbound

_"The day Merina left Kvatch was the day the world changed. Although no one knew it at the time, it was the death of one era and the birth of another. Appropriately, she called this, rather dramatically, the crossroads of her destiny"_  
_ ~ Life of Empress Kintyra III volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

She was in the Jerall Mountains, in the dress she had worn as child. The snow had barely begun to fall. Autumn must have just started. She turned her head right and saw her old home, still standing sturdily against the wind, their old mare in the stable surrounded by hay. The door opened and her parents walked out, blinding smiles on their faces. That was how she knew it was a dream. But she didn't want it to be. She desperately wanted it to be real. They called out to her, and she ran to them. But it was like she was trying to run through water. She had almost gotten to them, and was reaching out, when she was shaken awake.

Brother Darion was standing in front of her, his face grim. She would have complained about being woken up, but she was using all of what little energy she had to keep herself from crying. She was at least able to push out three slurred words, "What's going on?"

But his expression told her everything. There was only one thing that could scare him this much. All he said was, "They're coming."

The day had finally come. She knew that it was going to happen. Secrets had a way of getting out in the open. She didn't know how, or how much they knew. All she knew was that her cover was blown and she had to get away from this place. Fast. She threw herself out of bed and quickly put on a long dull grey dress, which had a pocket for the amulet, over some thin dark brown pants. She might have to blend in, but she wanted to be able to move. She then put a brown belt on and stuck her small, old dagger in it. She would not flee from the Thalmor. Over all of that, she put on a thick grey cloak with a hood. Finally, she put on thick leather boots. Neither were fashionable, but they were warm. She would need that where she was going.

Skyrim was her best chance. It was a month's journey by horse if you were on the road. She wasn't going to be, so it would take even longer. But it was too dangerous to stay in Cyrodiil. She knew Skyrim, and she had a chance of partially blending in. Talos worship was still pretty strong there, she could draw some support from that. The country was wild and huge. She could go into the boonies and hide for as long as she needed to without too much effort. And, even though she had lived in Kvatch for almost eleven years, she still partially thought of Skyrim as home. She had heard of some political unrest, but that wouldn't be too much of a problem. Maybe she could even use it to her advantage. Either way, she didn't think it would be that bad.

As she was thinking this, she was subconsciously putting the amulet around her neck. As soon as she did that, Brother Darion was half leading, half pulling her put the door. She took one more look around her, a feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her this was the last time she would get a chance to. They sped on out the doors, trying not to make a sound. It was a full moon, which wasn't going to do wonders for her stealth capabilities. She hoped there weren't werewolves, even though she hadn't believed in the stories since they were told to her as a little girl to make her be good.

Brother Darion led a sleek, grey spotted stallion from the stables. Merina remembered him. The horse had been given to the temple as a gift when she was eleven. He was only just old enough to ride at that point, and while he was fast and strong, he was also wild and ornery. This just made Merina want to ride him more. She gave him apples, and sugar cubes if Brother Darion gave her a little extra money, if he didn't try to bite or kick her. After doing this for a month or so she had carefully saddled him up, almost getting hit a few times. Then she threw herself on top of the horse and proceeded to ride him. Or, if she was honest, attempted to ride him. He kind of got out of control and she froze up in terror. That didn't stop her from trying again. And again. And again. After two months of hard work (and many bruises), she finally was able to do it. When she, rather smugly, reported her success, Brother Darion said she was going to be the death of him.

The memory made her smile briefly. She took one final look at Brother Darion. He seemed near tears and like he was trying to say something, but didn't know how. Finally, he settled on, "Good— Good luck out there."

Merina shocked him by pulling him into a tight hug. It took him a second, but he slowly returned the favor. Then, he pulled away, and put his hands on her shoulders, as if trying to get it over with, but not entirely able to let go. "There's a path you can take through the mountains. It's the only safe way into Skyrim."

She raised an eyebrow. "How did you know that was where I was going?"

He didn't answer and simply smiled a bittersweet smile. "You should go now."

She gave him one, last sad smile. "Thank you. For everything."

With that, she pulled up the hood of her cloak and rode into the night, forcing herself not to look back, because if she took one more look, she wasn't going to be able to make herself leave. Her eyes had already defied her by watering up. If she took even a small glance back, they were going to spill over. She had a horrible feeling that she was never going to come back. That something was over and that she had lost it forever. She took a deep breath to settle herself.

She kept the horse going, practically flying across the plains. She had stayed off the road, but was close enough that she could still see it. She would have been farther off, if there were any trees to hide her. However, there weren't, so what was the point?

She rode on, well into the morning, until she found a cave to sleep in. Luckily, there was nothing unsavory down there that she would have to deal with, like a bear, or worse, vampires. She slept for most of that day, and only came out to eat. There was a river right by the cave, so she drank some of the water, and after multiple failures, caught a fish on her dagger. She was an idiot for forgetting food. But it was too late to go back for food, the Thalmor would be there by now and would soon begin chasing her. It was too dangerous to go to a city. For one, she had no money with her. If she tried stealing, she would probably get caught. If she got caught, she went to jail. Going to jail meant staying in one place for too long and gave the Thalmor a better chance of finding her. Going into a city was out of the question. So she sighed, more angry with herself than anything else. She used a bit of magic to start a fire, and almost roasted the area around the little site she had hastily constructed. Sending out a plume of flames from her hand wasn't the safest way to light a fire, but it was the fastest. And right now, her head start was the only advantage she had over the Thalmor. She wanted to keep it.

She quickly cooked her small fish, and was thanking the Divines for the few cooking lessons that she had gotten. She managed not to burn it, and the thing was probably edible so she gave herself a pat on the back for that. She gobbled the it up, she was starving, and was then back on the horse.

For the next week or so, she rode constantly, all night and for most of the day, and was barely sleeping. But the moons were waning, and there was less light, so she began to be sleeping more in the night and traveling during the day. While it would be easier to see her, she couldn't tell what direction she was going at night. She was going to get lost and start going in circles. So she traveled mostly by day.

When she was near Bruma, with its constant snow, she knew it was time to go on foot. The weather was getting too cold. Her horse was built for the temperate weather of Cyrodiil. If she wanted to use a horse to get across the Jeralls, with their icy wind and frigid weather, she would need a slower but sturdier one from Skyrim. Or Bruma. But she didn't want to steal. So she simply left her horse at the stables right outside Bruma, and hoped that they would take good care of him. Then she took one look at a map she had jammed into a satchel on her belt. She was going to have to go North East if she wanted to use the Pale Pass. She took one look at the high, treacherous peaks in the distance, and decided that she did.

So she began trudging back through snow banks and over hills that felt more like small mountains. More than once, she was attacked by wolves, but she was able to deal with them. She did have some cuts on her legs and her left arm, though, and her dress was now cut up and ragged at the bottom. The snow was constantly falling, she was freezing, and her hurt leg was starting to be a real problem. But she kept going, as if that was a way to force her leg to shut up and heal.

Obviously, it wasn't. What made it even worse was the fact that the Pale Pass was the opposite of a flat plane that went in a straight line. Instead, it was a small, narrow pass full of treacherous cliffs with roads that zigzagged up and down said cliffs, with no end in sight. Merina almost fell off one of those cliffs. That was when she realized she had to stop and let her leg heal.

It took one agonizingly long week, but it would have taken longer if she hadn't known healing magic, another thing to thank Brother Darion for. The amulet was pretty helpful in speeding the process up too. As soon as she could, she was walking again.

By her estimate, she was now in the beginning of Last Seed. That was slightly worrying. She was going to need to find some place to stay in winter or she was going to freeze to death. Literally.

She pushed those thoughts out her mind. She could think about that later, but right now, she just needed to get into Skyrim. So, she kept putting one foot in front of the other,even when the muscles in her legs were screaming, the cold and the wind were cutting into her bones, and all she wanted to do was turn back. Then she reached the mountain.

When she had started going through the Pale Pass, there had been a mountain she had to cross. However, she didn't have to go all the way over it, it was a lot warmer, and she wasn't as tired. The only good thing about seeing this mountain was the fact that it showed that she had almost gotten to Skyrim. After she crossed this mountain, she could take the path all the way to a small town called Helgen.

If she thought crossing the rest of the Pale Pass was bad, it paled (no pun intended) in comparison to hiking up this mountain. For one, there wasn't much up there to eat. Every time she saw the occasional goat, she was stabbing it like a mad woman. She had lost at least five pounds, which was bad. For one, she had already lost quite a bit of weight simply from all the walking she had done. The other bad part was that she had always been a little too thin. After this was all over, she was going to eat as much as she could. A small positive was that she had been gaining some more muscle and she was probably ready for anything at this point. It couldn't get worse.

She was wrong. She was finally coming down the mountain, feeling like she was getting just the littlest bit warmer with every step she took. All the feelings of hunger and fatigue gradually disappeared as grass got closer and closer. Then, as she was minding her own business, she walked into the worst situation she could have. It wasn't a frost troll. It wasn't a pack of wolves. It wasn't even a saber cat or bear. She could have taken those (the bear and the saber cat would have given her a bit more trouble, and she would most definitely be worried, but she could have done it).

No, this was something entirely different. Because as it turned out, the political situation in Skyrim was a bit more dire than she had originally thought. Instead of there simply being unrest, it was more like outright civil war. And Merina just happened to walk right into a battle.

She couldn't really tell what was happening, she was just trying to run. She pushed through soldiers, both Imperial and... well, whoever those people in blue were. But in no time at all, the flat side of a sword hit her on the head, and everything went black.

She dreamed of towers and wheels. And of dragons. Someone with many voices, both male and female all speaking together, creating a reverberating feeling. As the voices spoke, she saw things. Images that swirled around, moving with the voices.

"When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world"

Here she saw a middle aged man, falling in a portal.

"When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped."

She saw a huge, monstrous thing made of brass. Was that— sweet Akatosh, could that be Numidium?!

"When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles."

A huge volcano- probably Red Mountain erupted and she heard terrified screams in the background.

"When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne,"

A man was there, holding the Amulet of Kings, standing in a temple, his eyes closed, his face set into a determined expression. He threw the amulet on the ground, and a white glow enveloped the area around it, throwing everything in its path at least ten feet back. When the light dimmed, the man was gone, replaced by a huge, golden dragon.

"And the White Tower falls."

She saw the Imperial City on fire, red flames eerily contrasting against the gleaming white

buildings, and heard more terrible screams.

"When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding,"

She saw a man, lying face down on the floor, with blood seeping out from  
under him, his hand out stretched, and his crown lying off of him.

"The World-Eater wakes."

With this, she saw only darkness, but heard the beating of wings against the wind. The voices said nothing more and the last thing she saw was an immense, ever turning wheel.

When she came to, she was in a cart with three men and her hands were bound. She was having a bit of a hard time seeing what they looked like, because her vision was a little blurry. The man across from her was blond. And in blue. Well, now she knew who won the battle.

She just looked around until her sight got better. There were a lot of trees, a lot of snow, and they were right near the mountains. So she wasn't out for too long. Probably only a couple hours at most. A couple seconds later, the man in front of her noticed her.

"Hey you, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush same as us— and that thief over there." The blond haired one had an accent that she heard a lot in the times she'd been in Skyrim.

She turned her head to the right, she was right in the front of the cart, and saw the two other men. One had dark hair and fair skin. The other man was stockier, had dark blond hair, and was wearing clothes much finer than anyone else. Strangely enough, he had a gag over his mouth, unlike the other two. She wondered why, but thought she would sound like an idiot if she did. So she stayed quiet.

The dark haired one snarled, "Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell."

Then he turned to her, "You there, you and me, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."

The blond man spoke again, "We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief."

The soldier driving their cart was clearly getting annoyed with their conversation as he said, "Shut up back there!"

The dark haired man, she still knew none of their names, decided to ignore this, by asking the same thing that Merina had been wondering. Gesturing to the gagged man he said, "What's up with him?"

This was something that clearly upset the non gagged blond. "Watch your tongue! You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King."

Ulfric Stormcloak? Wait a minute, if this guy was Ulfric Stormcloak, and the rebels were called Stormcloaks then... then this couldn't end well. But that still didn't explain the gag.

The dark haired man voiced her thought and at the same time proved her suspicions true as he said in a weak voice, "Ulfric Stormcloak? The Jarl of Windhelm?" His voice got stronger as the said, "You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they've captured you... oh gods where are they taking us?"

Merina thought that he was rightly concerned and she even more scared when the non gagged blond said, "I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits." Merina froze at the word Sovngarde. She might have been a Nord, but her grandmother on her father's side was. Her father had taught her all about the Nord beliefs. Sovngarde and its Hall of Valor. If they were talking about it, then they were going to die. She was going to die! Her breathing started increasing rapidly. She couldn't die, not now. She was only twenty! She hadn't done anything! She wasn't a rebel! She couldn't die!

The dark haired man once again voiced her thoughts, "No, this can't be happening! This isn't happening!"

The non gagged man tried to calm him down, speaking in an almost soothing voice, "Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?"  
"Why do you care?"  
"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home."  
"Rorikstead. I'm— I'm from Rorikstead."

Merina tried to think of home, so she thought of two places. The first was that little cabin in the Jeralls with her parents. She couldn't remember much from that time, but she could remember love, and feeling safe. That seemed almost ironic now. Safe. She was never safe.

She also thought of Kvatch, which she could remember. Memories of times with Avitus, of the festivals, of reading her favorite books late into the night until she was caught, eating sweet rolls on her birthday until she felt sick, of riding horses farther and farther away, which made Brother Darion to say that she that she was causing him to go grey. Dreaming of traveling to all the corners of the world. She thought of just Kvatch itself with its open, marble buildings and silver gates. She didn't feel any better. She just missed it all more. She was so stupid! She was a stupid girl who should have appreciated what she had when she had it. Now she was going to die and she would never see any of it again!

She tried focusing on other things. Looking out in front, and trying not to look at the soldiers or the town that was coming closer and closer. The cart had gone down the last of the road and they just as they were about to through wooden gates into a small town, she heard one of the soldiers call out, "General Tullius, sir, the headsman is waiting."

Oh Gods, General Tullius. Her salvation was here! All she needed to do was point herself out, she was his son's childhood friend, she was from Kvatch, she wasn't a Stormcloak, and she didn't need to be executed! But it was like her mouth was sewn shut, she could say a word. Of all the times to be frozen by fear, this the worst!

"Good, let's get this over with."

Oh yes, that was the general. She could never forget that gruff voice. They quickly went through the gates, and though the town.

"This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl here. Wonder if Vilod still makes mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe."

Nobody responded. What could they have said? She heard a man tell a little boy —his son?— to come inside. The little boy asked why because he, "wanted to see the soldiers."

'No kid, no you really don't,' she thought.

The cart soon drove up to a wall and stopped.

"Why are we stopping?"

"Why do you think? End of the line." He stood up, "Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."

Merina thought he was taking this insanely well. Her mind was frozen in a state of "This isn't happening! This isn't happening!" over and over. She got up mechanically with the others. The dark haired man made one last plea for salvation, by saying in a desperate tone, "Wait, we're not rebels! You can't do this!"

She vaguely noticed that he included her in his statement too. That was kind of him. She would have to return the favor, if she ever got the chance. She tried not to think of fact that she wasn't going to.

"Face your death with some courage, thief."

That blond man was taking this too well.

The dark haired man tried again, "You've got to tell them, we weren't with you! This is a mistake!"

The captain, a woman in steel armor with red accents, shouted, "Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time!"

The blond man grumbled, "Empire loves their damned lists."

It was true, but Merina didn't think that was a bad thing. It kept order. You knew what you had, when you had it, and how much it was. You could keep track of things.

The man, who was right next to the captain, holding the list, began to call out names. He called Ulfric Stormcloak first, rather obviously. He was the most important prisoner after all. She did realize in the back of her mind that she could try and show them the Amulet of Kings, and tell them why it was such a bad idea to lop off her head. But the rest of her mind was in a state of panic and wasn't exactly listening to reason. She had never been good in times of fear.

The Jarl began walking away, keeping his dignity and not even looking the least bit afraid, and the blond man said that it was an honor. Those two men, him and other blond, were completely insane. That was the only reasonable explanation Merina had for them not being even a little afraid. Or maybe they were just better at not showing, she supposed. Either way, she would never know.

The reddish brown haired list man called out the next name, "Ralof of Riverwood."  
So that was the blond man's name. He walked toward, with the same amount of dignity as his leader. Merina hoped she would be able to do the same. She didn't want to look like a blithering idiot before she died.

But when the man called the next name, "Lokir of Rorikstead," the brown haired man's name, there was a different reaction. First, the man restated the fact that he wasn't a rebel, and that they shouldn't kill him. Then he began to run. "You're not going to kill me!"

The captain shouted to the archers, and within a few seconds the man's —Lokir's— escape attempt was over, with him face down in the dirt. "Anyone else feel like running?" Said the captain, in a harsh and threatening tone.

Now, it seemed like the only thing Merina could do was attempt to go to her death with dignity.

The red haired man turned to look at her and said, "Wait, you there, step forward. Who are you?"

Merina didn't give them her real name. It had been so long since she had dared utter her real, full name, she never mentioned her real last name in Kvatch and when she was traveling she always used a fake. A lie just instantly came out without her permission.

"Cassia Ultor." She gave a flamboyant gesture at the end. If she was going to lie, then she was going to go all out. It wasn't like they'd believe the truth anyway. They would either think she was a crackpot or that she was someone who got duped with an imitation necklace and false promises of destiny.

"You're a long way from the Imperial City. What are you doing in Skyrim?"

She didn't say anything, because she knew her story would either be laughed at, or she would be turned over to the Thalmor. Besides, what was the point?

He took one more look at his list, puzzled, and then turned to the captain. "Captain, what should we do? She's not on the list."

Merina was stunned for a second. She was going to live. She was going to  
live! But the captain's response promptly squashed that hope. "Forget the list. She  
goes to the block."

"By your orders, Captain." Then he faced her again, not quite able to look in her eyes,

"I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to the Imperial City. Follow the captain, prisoner."

I'm sorry. I'm sorry?! She was getting sent to her death, even when they knew she wasn't a rebel, and all he could say was "I'm sorry"?! Screw his apologies! He couldn't even look her in the eye as he sentenced her to death! Her anger at the reddish haired man, however, was nothing compared to her fury directed at the captain. At least the man had protested it, this was the one sending her to the block without a care in the world! Who in the world promoted this woman to any position of prominence?! If she had ever got the chance to be empress, which was admittedly practically impossible by this point, this was going to stop. She could almost understand why the Stormcloaks were rebelling! Almost.

She made herself look as tall as she could, and walked to the others, with all the dignity she could muster. Which was a lot, from what she had been told. An inability to process the situation had been clouding her mind before, now pure rage was taking its place. If she couldn't live to kick ass and take names, then by Akatosh, she was going to die well.

Ulfric Stormcloak and General Tullius seemed to be having a bit a face off. "Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like the voice to murder his king and usurp his throne."

Ulfric attempted to protest, but those protests were muffled by the gag. Merina was completely confused. What in Oblivion was going on in Skyrim? And why hadn't she known about it? She had prided herself on being one of the most well-informed people in Kvatch. This just kind of proved that she was nothing more than a country bumpkin. For the thousandth time, she wished she had just joined the Legion. She could have done it multiple times. But each time she backed out. She couldn't leave the old man on his own. Brother Darion was getting older and his health was starting to fail. He was at least sixty by the time she fifteen, she had always thought it impolite to ask him his real age. It would've been cruel to just run off. She didn't like thought of him dying, but he was getting old. There been a couple of close calls. Besides, she was still very young. She could join when she was a bit older and more experienced. She couldn't go and break Brother Darion's heart like that. She would either get his permission or not go at all.

General Tullius spoke again, "You started this war and plunged Skyrim into chaos and now the Empire is going to put you down and restore the peace."

There was strange sound, she couldn't tell what direction it was from. Every one looked up, looking for its source, as confused she was. The reddish haired man, Merina wished wore name tags, asked what everyone must have been thinking, "What was that?"

No one really had answer for that. Merina didn't have much experience outside of what lived near Kvatch, but she had never even heard of something that sounded like that.

"It's nothing, carry on."

Merina didn't think that it was nothing, but if he hadn't noticed her by now, he wasn't going to. He always had a problem remembering who she was, even when she was his son's best friend for six years. Besides, she was more than a bit miffed about that little being sent to her death thing. She kind of wanted him to feel that "Oh Gods, I just killed the childhood friend of my only son! What have I done?" It was dumb, it was the stupidest, most vain bit of prideful idiocy she had ever experienced and even just a few minutes later, she be wondering how she had ever been that stupid. Twenty years later she would still be wondering how she'd ever been that stupid! But Merina was running on pure anger, and it was clouding her judgement, and her ability to think straight. This anger was pushing away all feelings but fear— no, not of fear, of absolute, knee weakening, vomit inducing, faint causing, terror. And her pride demanded that she not give into those feelings. She was a Septim, a descendent of emperors and emperesses, of a man who became a god. She would not die in terror. She die befitting her ancestry. She might die being of the biggest failures of the family, but at least she could that she was better than Potema. Not that that was saying much.

The captain answered the general, not with what Merina thought might have been sensible, which was investigating what in Oblivion that noise was, but by agreeing. Ah well, the chain of command, she supposed. That became the next thing on her list of what to change if the gods saved her and she became Empress. Number three, you are allowed to question your superior if they are making a dumb decision. Not that they have to follow your advice.

The captain gave an order to the priest that was standing off to the left of the headsman to give Merina and the others doomed to death their last rites.

"As we commend you souls to Aetherius, blessings of the eight divines upon you—"

'The nine," Merina thought, 'No matter what those Thalmor pigs say, it's the nine."

The man walking to the block interrupted her, "For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with."

Merina thought she might have been in love with that man for a minute. The priest was not as amused. In an annoyed tone she said, "As you wish."

The man stood in front of the block, not even turning his head the slightest bit to look at anything else. "Come on, I haven't got all morning."

Merina was most definitely in love. But in all seriousness, she thought he was very brave. She hoped she could be as brave.

The captain used her hand to push him into a kneeling position. Then, she put her boot on her back and pushed his head onto the block. As she did this, the man got the last laugh, "My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"

With that, headsman, dressed in almost all black save for white fur to block the cold, raised his ax. It fell on the man's head with a sickening slicing sound. The head fell into a basket waiting perfectly placed in front of the block and the captain kicked his body away.

The Stormcloaks began to shout things. One shouted, "You Imperial bastards!"

Someone else said only one word, though Merina couldn't tell what side he was on "Justice!"

The reddish haired man was just staring at the head. She wondered if he had known him. Ralof, who she was standing next to him, said, "As fearless in death, as he was in life."

Merina wanted to ask what his name was, but the captain barked out her next order before she could.

"Next, the renegade from Cyrodiil."

That noise came again, this time much louder, reverberating against the edges  
of the mountains. Merina was really wondering, and was slightly worried about, what that could be. Everyone, once again, looked for the source. Once again, they didn't see anything.

"There it is again, did you hear that?" It was the reddish haired man again.

While she thought it was a little obvious that everyone could hear it, she was glad that somebody was at least the slightest bit concerned about it. He seemed like the only sane man left.

When the captain spoke again, her tone was threatening, "I said, next prisoner."

The man turned to her and said, "To the block, prisoner, nice and easy." She took a deep breath, and instinctively put her hand in her pocket, her palm closing on the amulet which still miraculously inside. For some reason, even though she was too scared to be calm enough to use it, it was a comfort. Taking a final deep, she began walking.

The captain did the same thing she did with the other man, and soon enough, Merina's head was lying sideways on the block. She could feel the cold, hard wood pushing uncomfortably against her right cheek. She took a shaky breath in an unsuccessful attempt to steady herself. She remembered what Ralof said. End of the line. Would Sovngarde await for her? She hadn't done anything worth getting herself into the Hall of Valor. She hadn't fought until her last breath on field of battle. She wasn't going to die with honor, mourned by many. She going to die here, in a strange town where no one knew her. She would be forgotten, having barely crossed anyone's mind. Would Brother Darion find her body, even though she had used a fake name? Part her hoped he would, so that he would not live in false security and he could gain closure. It was horrible, not knowing if someone you loved was alive or dead. The other part hoped he would never find out, so that he could die happy, thinking that she was alive and as happy as he was.

She was breathing rapid, ragged breaths, terrified, but not wanting to show it. This was it. She tried to not think about it, but she couldn't even force herself to close her eyes so that she at least wouldn't see the ax coming. The headsman was raising his ax— what in Oblivion was that?!

Something was flying! Something huge and black with wings and she had a feeling of what it was but she didn't want to admit it. It landed on the tower right in front of her, its wings so huge that they curved down the half of the tower. It let out a huge cry that knocked everyone down and made fire start to rain from the sky.

For a few seconds, Merina was frozen in terror, just staring at the dragon. Then Ralof brought her back to reality by saying, "Get up! Come on, the Gods won't give us another chance. This way!"

They ran into another tower, obviously not the one the dragon was standing on, and tried to process what just happened. That was a dragon. That was a dragon! How in Oblivion was it here?!

No one had seen a dragon in... well, basically forever, they were practically lost to the written record of history. Until now, Merina had kind of thought that they were just a legend. Well, this proved her horribly wrong.

"Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?"

Ulfric Stormcloak had taken off his gag, and said in a deep baritone, "Legends don't burn down villages."

Another Stormcloak reminded them of the urgency of the situation, saying, "We need to move, now!" Ralof once again knew where to go, "Up through the tower. Let's go!"

Merina ran up the stairs, not really registering if anyone followed. Just as she got to a wider step that had someone laying in pain on it, the dragon's head came threw the wall and began blasting fire! Merina avoided getting hit by said flames with fast steps back down a few stairs, pushing herself against the wall, hoping that it hadn't seen her. The thing apparently didn't, and flew away.

Going up any further was now impossible, as rubble blocked the way. Merina went right in front of the hole in the wall, knowing what she had to do, but being not wanting to do it. She was going to have to jump down into the building below. Sounded simple enough, until you realized of building was on fire. Merina didn't want to burn to death.

"See the inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and keep going. Go! We'll follow when we can!"

She went forward, stepped up onto the part of the wall that was still there, not even having to lean down a little, the dragon had made it so big. She took a deep breath in and shakily let it out. Then, she jumped.

Miraculously she managed to fall on the part that wasn't on fire. The collision had hurt, but she wasn't on fire and she didn't have any broken bones. At the moment, that was a priority. She supposed she would have to thank the Gods for small blessings. She ran through to the other side and saw the stairs were on fire. Great. Luckily, right in front of her, there was a hole in the floor. She jumped through it and ran out, only to once again encounter the dragon.

The first thing she noticed after the dragon was that most of the town was destroyed. Part of what probably used to be a house was still standing, but it was charitable to even call it a house. The correct word was wall. A man was hiding behind it. Then she saw that the reddish man was standing just beyond the wall.

The reddish haired man was calling out to a little boy, who was right in the dragon's line of sight. And because he wasn't standing behind the wooden wooden wall, like she and the other man were, that put him in the dragon's line of sight too. The boy was finally able to snap out of his fear and ran to where the other man was. The reddish haired man shouted out to a third man, who Merina couldn't see. The dragon however, must have killed him because the reddish haired man swore. He seemed to realize that the dragon was about to try and kill them too because he immediately shouted, "Gods, everyone get back!"

They all did just that, and it was good that they did because the dragon started spewing fire at them. The man turned to her, realizing that she was there. "Still alive, prisoner? Stick close to me if you want to stay that way." Then he turned to the other man, "Gunjar, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join the defense."

The man— Gunjar— agreed, "Gods guide you, Hadvar."

Hadvar, that was the man's name. She was glad she could call something besides the reddish haired man. It was a bit of a mouth full. He went off running and she followed. When they reached an inn, only half of which was still standing and not on fire yet, the dragon flew over head.

"Stay close to the wall!"

Gladly.

Merina stood as if stuck to the wall, breathing as quietly as she could. The dragon literally landed right in front of her, breathed fire at people, and then flew back up. This would a horrible, but reasonable time to freak out. Usually, she would have. But today, it seemed like bravery, even if it was idiotic bravery, was coursing through her veins instead of blood. She ran right under the monster after Hadvar. They ran right through a completely destroyed house, which only had the bottoms of the walls and a bit of the beginning of the roof still standing.

They ran out to find the remain soldiers grouped together. There were bodies of townspeople everywhere, and scent of charred flesh made her sick. Gods, what had it been like to live under the dragons? She couldn't even to begin to think of doing it herself.

General Tullius called out, "Hadvar! Into the keep, soldier we're leaving!"

They kept running, Merina had no idea where the keep was, and she was praying that the dragon didn't swoop down and gobble her up or something equally horrible. Just as they reached the largest, and most still standing building she'd seen yet, Ralof appeared once again.

"Ralof, you damned traitor! Out of my way!"

Obviously there was some bad blood between the two. She wondered how they knew each other. From the same town, maybe?

"We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time!"

She supposed he was referring to the other Stormcloaks in that statement, even if they weren't there. She wondered why everyone was going to the keep if they all planned on killing each other, which with the way those two were acting seemed likely. The only purpose of going into the keep was trying to weather the storm, which in this case, that was partially literal as flames kept spurting from the dark clouds the dragon had spurted up. Unless there was some kind of secret exit through the keep.

"Fine. I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!"

Just as he was saying that, the dragon flew right over head, and thankfully ignored them. Either way, she wanted to get out of open and away from that dragon. It seemed like Hadvar was of a like mind, as he ran into the keep. Merina followed, hot on his heels.

By the time they had gotten in, they were both gasping for breath. Not because they were tired, even though they had practically ran from one side of the small town to another, but from attempts to try and process what was going on now that they could think beyond the word run.

Hadvar was first to speak, "Looks like we're the only ones who made it. Was that really a dragon? The bringers of the end times?"

For a second she wanted to snap at him, of course that was a dragon! Wings, mean, bad tempered, killing machine! Everything her mother had taught her about dragons! How her mother knew anything on the subject of their personalities was beyond her, as dragons had been gone since before anyone, except maybe some of the older elves, had even been born, let alone been able to remember seeing one. And the stuff that people did know was from old songs and legends, all kept alive in the oral tradition for thousands of years. There was no way that it had survived that long without going through at the very least a few changes. For all they knew, dragons could be four hundred feet tall, with pink horns, and silver wings, and no one would be any the wiser.

Besides, she couldn't blame him for not wanting to believe that it was a dragon. She had never put much stock in the "bringers of the end times", but clearly, he did. If she was him, she wouldn't want to think about that either. She didn't want the world the end anyone more than most rational, sane people. Unfortunately, because she'd never believed in dragons bringing about the end of the world and because until now they had been gone, Merina had never read up on dragons.

But still...

The World Eater wakes.

And the last line...

She didn't want to start thinking about what that meant for her, even though she had never believed in prophesies. But this one was about a Dragonborn.

She remembered the dream she had had while unconscious. She had been dreaming of a centuries old prophecy, one that many seers had seen, one being her ancestor, Aurelia. More and more seers, (even though there weren't many of them), even those with smallest amount of gift had been seeing this prophecy with alarming frequency. The dream had ended before it had been finished, but there was only one line left, and she knew what it was.

And the wheel turns upon the last Dragonborn.

She didn't want to think about what that meant, because the only possibilities included a lot of death. In at least two situations, her own, which were without children and as the last of her line, which had lasted for seven hundred years. She wanted to hope that the last part was metaphorical, but she knew that was idealistic at best. Dumb, which it probably was, at worst.

So she shrugged her shoulders, in a wordless attempt to say, "I guess so." He noticed that she didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't seem to want to either, as he quickly changed the subject. "We need to keep moving. Come here, let me see if I can get those bindings off."

How had she forgotten that her hands were bound?! She supposed that she was focused on other things, but still! That was a pretty important detail to just slip her mind! She stepped closer, like he asked, he took out a dagger, and neatly cut her bindings off. That was good, she had been a little worried that he was going to accidentally cut into her with that thing.

"There should be some armor and a weapon in one of those chests, you should take it."

She raised an eyebrow, surprised that he was so quick to trust her not to stab him in the back. But Akatosh alone knew what they were going to be facing. It was pragmatic to be at least able to defend herself. So she went to one of the chests and, luckily, it had light leather armor, boots, and gauntlets that she favored in it. She grabbed the smallest size of each. When she went to put it on, Hadvar turned away.

'How noble,' she thought dryly.

When she had it all on, no matter how much she tightened the straps, the armor still wouldn't fit. It was a little to long. There was added problem of that wasn't a tiny waisted woman. She wasn't fat, but she wasn't tiny in that regard either. It always suprised people when she wore short sleeves. Because then they saw that she was pure muscle. She had worked for three years on a farm to earn money (she hardly planned to travel the world without a Septim to her name) and it had made her bulk up. It kind of contrasted with the small, dainty little lady everyone seemed to think she was. It was true, she was small. It was true, that after years of training, she could walk as gracefully as any highborn lady. But it was also true, in a way that seemed a paradox to anyone who didn't know her, that she was as strong as anyone twice her size, man or woman. The point was, she could either tighten it to the point where she was gasping for breath, but it was the right length for her to move comfortably in. Or she could be able to breathe, but her movements would be clunky. Her fighting depended on split second movements and being able to outlast her opponents. No matter which way she went, this was going to be a huge hindrance. She chose clunky movement. She had no idea when she be required to run for a long time, and when there were dragons all you wanted to do was run. She considered herself good enough of a swords woman, and mage for that matter, to be able to get around the problem of moving a bit slower. Besides, she was sure she would get used to it during their escape. As soon as they got to civilization, she would fix it. She knew the basics of smithing from watching someone in Kvatch do it. He had been so happy to hear that someone was interested in learning, as his own children weren't, that he had taught it to her for free.

Hadvar pulled the chain right next to a gate and it opened up to reveal a hall that led to another gate. Just as she was about to pull another chain to open this new gate, she heard some people on the other side talking.

"Hear that? Stormcloaks. Maybe we can reason with them."

Her respect for that man grew three times larger when she heard him say that. He was willing to work with the enemy, people he was fighting a war against, because there was something worse that they all needed to escape from. Enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that. It was pretty logical. But a lot of people weren't logical when came to hatred, anger, and grudges, of which there was plenty of, seeing as a civil war was going on. She was going to have to ask what it was about. She hoped it wasn't something stupid.

She pulled the chain and let Hadvar go in first. She had fought dragur and bandits, and Avitus when they were training, but she'd never gone against someone who's skills had been forged in the fires of war and actively wanted to kill her.

One of the Stormcloaks, there were two, shouted, "You won't take us alive!" Hadvar tried to explain, "Hold on, we only want to—"

It was to no avail, as he was speaking, they attacked. The man went for Merina and the woman went for Hadvar. The man clearly underestimated her, as his strike was obviously to her stomach and slow. She easily dodged it and then stabbed him in the side of his gut. She pulled out her sword and he fell. She didn't want to think about or check if he was still breathing, the wound was clearly mortal. She cut off his head, partly to make sure he was dead, partly to put him out of his misery if he was still alive. Merina turned around to see if Hadvar needed help.

Hadvar didn't have the advantage of looking small and weaker than he was, so he was having a harder time of it. He and the woman seemed to be of equal skill, each time he tried to get a strike in, she blocked it, and vice-versa. Then, Merina's training revealed to her the tell tale signs of a really good feint that woman was doing. Instinctually, she jumped forward and slammed her blade into the woman's back, going right through her spine.

She was breathing heavily, blood coursing, heart pounding, and adrenaline coursing through her veins. Hadvar looked up at her with surprise and Merina felt the need to explain herself for for some odd reason.

"She feinting, she going to kill you so I just... did it."

She gave a small smile in her usual way, only the left side of her mouth going up. "Maybe I'll tell you when we get out of here."

'If we get out of here.'

He smiled back at her and they continued running out, going through another hall and down some stairs. After a few right turns, they were going down a hall a door at the end. Was the way out? Merina started running towards it, just wanting this nightmare to be over, when the dragon's roar shook the entire structure. Hadvar yelled, "Look out!", ran to her, grabbed one of her arms, and pulled her back. They narrowly missed being hit by the roof, which the dragon had caused to collapse.

She looked at him, surprise unusually evident on her face. She was usually able to kept a poker face when shocked. "You saved me."

He looked back at her, just as surprised, but for different reasons. "Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?"

"You almost died doing that!"

She looked down, her eyebrows furrowed upwards, and crossed her arms over her chest. Her face looked, well not soft, but as close as it could get to being that. Less harsh. "You barely know me and you've saved me twice now." She said in almost a whisper. She supposed that even getting her two the keep counted as saving her.

He couldn't refute what she'd said.

Merina smiled for a second. "Do you even remember my name?"

He blushed, which basically answered her question in and of itself. "Cara?"

She let out a small chuckle. When she spoke, her voice still had a tone of amusement. "Cassia. Well, that's the name I told you. It's actually Merina."

He didn't even ask her why she lied about it, though he was probably wondering. All he said was, "It suits you."

She smiled, not one usual one. Both corners of her mouth went up, though her mouth didn't open.

"The name Hadvar suits you."

He smiled back at her, and somehow she could tell it was a real one to. Now that she got a good look at him, she noticed a few things about him that she hadn't before. His nose was long, like hers, his mouth was rather thin, and he was taller than her. Pretty much everyone, except children, was taller than her, but he was a lot taller. She was almost craning her neck to look him in the eyes. His eyes were what really what got her attention. They were a very light blue, almost blue grey like her's, but not quite. There the light in them that drew her to him. His eyes had a kind light to them. Like he would always be there to help, even if he didn't know you. Which, from the way he'd been acting, he probably would. People said that looks could be deceiving, and usually they were, you only had to take one look at her to see that. But with him, she didn't think that it applied.

Her eyes never had a look of kindness to them. They were an cold, light blue grey, and from,what people said they were intimidating. Cold and calculating. That even when she was being nice, they looked angry. Most of all, that she looked like she was staring right into people's souls when she looked them. Most of the time, she was fine with this. In fact, usually, she took it as a compliment. But sometimes... sometimes she wished that she looked kind. Just like sometimes she wished that she was pretty, even though her appearance didn't bother her most of the time, and she felt like anyone who valued her solely on her appearance was someone who's opinion was utter bs. She thought it was stupid, but sometimes, she still wished it.

Merina didn't know why she was thinking about these things.

The building shook once again from another roar from the dragon. Luckily, no more of the roof fell down, but the way they were going was blocked by the rubble. So, they went through the only other way: a door on the left.

They entered the largest room in the keep she'd seen yet. It was made of dark grey stone like the rest of military buildings in Helgen, but there were attempts to give it warmth. There was a cream colored rug with red patterns on it and a pelt on the wall. The standard Imperial banner was hanging up, a red dragon insignia on a black background. Stores of food lay on shelves, this had to be a storeroom in case the fort had to hold out under siege. There was the slight problem of there being two Stormcloaks in the room. They were arguing, but pretty quickly they realized that Merina and Hadvar were there. This time there was no hesitation on either of their parts. The bigger of the two went after Hadvar, once again she was underestimated, which she wasn't complaining about. Before the man even got a chance to strike, she used the sword in her right hand to distract him by slashing at his lower stomach. He easily blocked it, but couldn't push her back, which was the point. With her left hand, she grabbed the dagger in belt as fast as she could. Before he could react, she stabbed it clean through his throat, the tip just barely sticking through the back of it. She pulled it off and cleaned it off a little on her armor, the blood blending in with the red colored leather. She saw that the rest of the Stormcloaks were dead, and Hadvar left standing with minimal injuries, only a small cut on the shoulder and his lower arm.

"We should grab some supplies. The nearest town is about three days away."

She found a thin, leather satchel which she put over her shoulder. She found a couple of carrots and potatoes which she threw in. When she found the mead, however, she put the three bottles she found in the bag with the utmost care. Those things were in glass bottles. She had to be careful. Besides, she had no idea what the quality of the water was like here. She was lucky enough to find some healing potions, which just as luckily had thicker glass than the mead. Besides that, there was some salt lying around, which she didn't think were useful.

Since there was only one bag lying around, Hadvar put all of the stuff he found lying around, which consisted of the same things she'd found, in her's. Then they kept moving, as the dragon was continuing to cause the entire structure to shake. She hoped that no one was above ground at this point. She would hate to be them.

There was only one door, so they had to go through that. Once again, they encountered Stormcloaks. This time, however, they weren't without allies. There were two other Imperials in the same armor that Hadvar and Merina were wearing. Together, they made short work of the two Stormcloaks.

Once the Stormcloaks were dead, she was able to get a good look at the room. There were two metal cages against the wall, one holding what looked like a skeleton in a set of blue robes. One of the men was wearing a dark brown hood, like the one the headsman was wearing, only a different color. Merina felt sick. This was a torture room. Hadvar must have sensed her horror, as he whispered, "The torture room. Gods, I wish we didn't need these."

The one in the hood, probably the torturer, had a slimy voice when he spoke. She knew this because he said something just as slimy as his voice.

"You fellows happened along just in time. These boys seemed a bit upset over how I've been entertaining their comrades."

For a second, she wanted to kill that man. Right then and there. She knew what it was like to feel that pain of losing someone you loved. Of wanting to make the person who caused it feel their pain. She still felt that feeling. That complete fury and hatred. After almost eleven years, she still felt it. And she would feel it until she found the monster and drove a sword through her gullet. Besides finding a place to live in Skyrim, that was her top priority. She couldn't imagine what it was like to hear about your friends being tortured.

"Don't you even know what's going on? A dragon is attacking Helgen!" That was Hadvar.

The torturer scoffed. "A dragon? Please. Don't make up nonsense." He paused for a second, "Although, come to think of it, I did hear some strange noise coming from over there."

"Come with us. We need to get out of here."

The torturer gave him a look of disdain, "You have no authority over me, boy." If Hadvar was like Merina, he would have exploded over that. She felt like exploding over that on his behalf, that they were trying to save this man's miserable excuse for a life, and he was getting snippy with them?! But he didn't. Somehow, he stayed calm. That man, Merina decided, had the patience of a saint. He did however, try again.

"Didn't you hear me? I said the keep is under attack!"

The other man, she wasn't quite sure who he was, maybe the torturer's assistant, seemed to have some sense. "Forget the old man, I'm coming with you."

While the three of them were arguing, Merina was searching around the room. She went to the small table by a column, grabbed the gold on it, and looked through the satchel on the table. There was some more gold and a few lock picks inside. She of course, took all of it, placing them as discreetly as she could in her bag. That was when she saw a book on the table. It was right in plain sight, but she'd been focused on other things, so she hadn't immediately seen it. The cover was dark grey, with the Imperial insignia in silver. She picked it up, and turned it to see the binding. The Book of the Dragonborn. She put it in her bag too. For luck.

That was when Hadvar turned to her. "Can you get that cage open? We'll need everything we can get."

Apparently, the torturer had lost the key. She wondered why Hadvar thought she would be able to do it, but it was true that she could. She and Avitus had tons of practice going through secret passages in the Count's castle. Because the count was his cousin, Avitus could go anywhere. Once, they'd gotten stuck in one of the passages for almost two days before they found a way out. She smiled slightly at the memory.

She walked up to the cage. This was all about precision. If she pulled it the wrong way, the pick would break. It was a pretty easy lock, one little push was all she needed to open the door. She walked in a little hesitantly. It didn't feel right taking things from a dead man.

'He's dead, what could he use money for?' She thought, trying to rationalize it.

She took the money, silently apologizing and glad the man's suffering was over, and put it in her bag. Then everyone, except the torturer, began to walk away. Just as they were about out go down the next hallway, the torturer called out, "There's no way out that way!"

For the first time that day, Merina said something to someone that wasn't Hadvar. She was tired, she was cold, her head was pounding, she hadn't had a decent meal in weeks, she had been kicked out of her home, she had been on the run for almost a month, she had accidentally gotten into a battle, she had almost been killed via beheading, she had almost been killed via a dragon, which, by the way, weren't even supposed to exist! And now this jackass was telling her, after all of that, there was no way to escape. She was fed up. So she felt quite justified in turning around and yelling, "Shut up!"

Then she continued on with the other two, feeling much better. While the other man looked a little surprised, Hadvar didn't.

They went down the short hallway, then a flight of stairs, and came to what was probably once another storeroom. Other people had obviously gotten there before them, as there was a huge hole in the wall. The only question was who made it.

Merina went through first. All she wanted to do was get out of this keep, out of this town. Even if there were a thousand dragons in her way, she was going to get out of there. So she calmly went through, not caring what was in her way. The other two followed, a bit slower, behind her. It would be kind of embarrassing for two large, muscled men in the Legion to be scared of doing something that a tiny civilian was willing to. Besides, they probably wanted to get out as much as she did.

As it turned out, it was the Stormcloaks who got through the wall. There were six of them. One on the stone bridge, one just beyond it, two on the other side of the room, and two below. Merina went for the man on the bridge first. She ran forward, taking him off guard, and then stabbed him as hard as she could in the stomach with her sword. As fast as she could, she pulled her blade out, and slammed him with her right fist, knocking him off the thin bridge. Then she ran at break neck speed towards the next man in her way. He barely had time to begin to raise his sword before she cut off his head. As he fell, she grabbed him and began to use him as a human shield. The men on the other side of the room were archers and she didn't fancy getting hit by an arrow. She began running across the next bridge, the dead man's steel boots clanking against the stone. She took half a second to analyze her surroundings. The two archers were unwittingly standing on an rainbow colored oily substance that burned very easily. And there was a torch on the wall. She took a gamble, dropping her human shield and going for the torch, moving faster than the arrows could hit her. By the time one of the archers got an arrow out of the quiver, she was already at the wall. She grabbed the torch and flung it as hard as she could at the oil. One of the archers was able to get out of the way just in time, but the other went up in flames. Yelling some unintelligible battle cry, she threw herself at the man and slammed her sword at his head. He fell down, unconscious. Then, with one strike, she cut off his head.

She turned around. The torturer's assistant was lying on the ground dead, Hadvar was fine, and the last two Stormcloaks were also dead.

"You alright?" She called out. He seemed fine, but it was better to check and everything be fine than to not and as it would turn out, he would have a horrible injury.

"I'm fine." He smiled as he said it.

Before going on, Merina grabbed the decapitated Stormcloak's bow and arrows. She still didn't like stealing from the dead, but she could use those arrows and he couldn't.

She quickly examined at the bow. It was a bow usually used by hunters, not the type she was used to using, the Imperial Bow. This one had a slightly smaller range, but wasn't as heavy. She could use it, for now.

There was a tunnel with a high ceiling. Seeing no alternative, they went through, hoping that there would be some exit. They kept going until they reached wooden wall with a lever right next to it. Merina took a deep breath and pulled it, hoping there was no trap that went along with it. Those traps were never very fun, to put it lightly.

The wall fell down and made a bridge to the other side. They almost ran across, just wanting for this nightmare to be over. It was good thing they did, because as soon as they crossed it, the dragon caused the ceiling to collapse again, caving in the way back.

"Damn. Trapped. The others will just have to find another way out."

She hated to be the killjoy, but she had to ask, "Do you think there are any others?"

He looked at her seriously, "I hope so."

They went down some stairs. This time there was no hallway. They were in a cave, the smallest of streams running through with water so clear, she could see the almost black stone underneath easily. They went down as far as they could, but then it stopped. "Dead end." He said.

It was pretty depressing looking, the stream just flowed right into a wall. But then Merina saw  
a small tunnel. She smiled, pointed to it and said, "What about that way?"

He smiled back at her, and they started walking through. Everything was fine until the tunnel widened into another cave. The cave in and of itself was normal. What was in it was the problem. Spiders. Merina hated spiders, big and small. They didn't scare her, she just didn't like them one bit. These spiders were bigger than the normal ones. They weren't the really big ones that she'd read about. At least, she thought they weren't.

They weren't very smart. They took on something twice their size and their only weapon was their poison. They were easier to kill than the Stormcloaks, all she needed to do was stab them. Their spines weren't very thick. When they had gotten rid of them she heard Hadvar say, "What's next, giant snakes?"

She quietly chuckled a little. She'd read about the giant snakes that had lived hundreds of years ago. They were probably just a myth, though. Then again, before today, she had thought that dragons were just a myth.

The cave thinned out again and, once again, they were going through a tunnel. The stream came back and there was a small land bridge. "Do you see that?" She whispered. There was something at the edge of the cavern, she couldn't quite tell what it was. It looked rather like a not quite round bolder, but she wasn't entirely sure.

"No." He whispered too.

She pointed to it. He couldn't tell what it was either. So she carefully walked, slowly and as quietly could, over the bridge and behind a rock. She stopped and looked over it. Hadvar had followed her, a little less stealthily, and she turned to him.

"It's a bear, should we just stay quiet and risk it or should we attack it?"

"I don't think we should antagonize it."

She nodded, but pulled her new bow out, just in case. She walked even slower, trying to dull her footsteps.

'Just put one foot in front of the other. Just one in front of the other. Carefully... Carefully!'

Just then, the bear snorted and started to stand up. They both froze. But the  
bear simply stretched and then curled back up again. Merina let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

They moved quietly, leaning down, not sure if the bear was asleep, and not wanting to test that theory. They stopped being so careful when they were out of the bear's line of sight and went into a tunnel, this one going upward. They all out broke into a run when they saw light and a trail at the end.

Once they got out, Merina wanted to smile, laugh, jump, and just yell in joy all at the same time because finally— finally!— they were out of caves and away from that town. The light was almost blinding after hours of darkness, even though the sun was already setting. Had they been in there for that long?

Merina looked at the sky. It was beautiful, with all shades of yellow, orange, and the smallest dashes of pink around the clouds. The evergreens had the darkest of green leaves and they stood tall, proud, and harsh, jutting out against the gentle sky. Skyrim was covered in trees, they were everywhere, even in the coldest of regions. They were on the mountains, the river valleys, the land that was practically tundra. They were there, even in winter, as if to show the strength of the land. As if it, and all of its inhabitants, could withstand anything.

Suddenly, Hadvar pulled her behind a rock. It was a good thing that he did, because just then, the colossal black dragon appeared, its roars piercing the silence. They watched it, closely and warily, until it was out of sight. Merina's limbs loosened, her fists unclenched, she moved her hands away from her weapon, her breathing slowed, and she once again let out a sigh she hadn't known she'd been holding in. Okay, so Skyrim now had bears living under its keeps, giant spiders, a civil war, and, let's not forget dragons. Dragons that could destroy entire towns!

Apparently, Skyrim was a little more dangerous than she remembered. Finding a way to stop this new dragon problem was going to have to take precedence over revenge. In fact, finding shelter was going to have to take precedence, because night was coming and she didn't think that either of them wanted to be in the open when that happened.

Neither of them wanted to be in that cave for a second longer, so they kept moving. They weren't able to find a well placed cave, so instead found a hill by some trees and "set up camp" there. It could hardly be called that, because they had nothing with them but the clothes and weapons on their backs. They managed to find enough wood on the ground to start a fire.

Merina sat on a log and stared at the gold and orange flames, her legs pulled to her chest and held by her arms. She was shivering.

Hadvar sat down and scooted towards her uncomfortably. "Are you cold?"

"A little."

"I'd, um, I'd give you a blanket or something, but um..."

"There isn't one. But, thank you." She said softly and smiled. Then, just as she thought of it, she asked, "Can you— can you help me think about something else. Just sitting here makes me feel more cold. If it's not too much trouble for you."

He nodded and smiled. "Where part of Cyrodiil are you from?"

She smiled just thinking about it, "I lived in Kvatch for about ten years, but I'm was born in Skyrim."

"Oh, really what part?"

"Around here, actually. What part of Skyrim are you from?"

"Riverwood— it's in Whiterun. It's the closest town, a couple days away."

They kept talking long into the night. He told her about his childhood, that he was orphaned at thirteen and had gone to live with his Uncle Alvor, who was a blacksmith, and Aunt Sigrid, who at the time was pregnant with his cousin Dorthe. He told her all about his cousin, that she wanted to be a blacksmith like her father, that she didn't like her mother's attempts to make her more ladylike, about one of his birthdays where she had tried to make a custard, but only got herself covered in gooey flour. He helped her clean up the small house before her parents found out. The next year, she succeed in making a custard. It wasn't very good, but he ate all of it. It made her face light up and she smiled so much that it was worth eating terrible custard and more.

She told him about all the mishaps she and Avitus, she didn't mention who exactly he was, got into. All of their sword lessons, the times they had fruitlessly been searching for treasure (he just wanted to go out and search, she had felt like research and planning were their best bet). Neither approach had worked, whatever else could be said about Aurelia, she could hide her treasure insanely well.

She told him about all the times she had gone against Brother Darion's wishes, all the times she had disobeyed him by going out riding for hours and hours or holing herself up in the castle library. Once she had fallen asleep in there, and no one found her for about a day or so. She always went to that library whenever she was upset. She liked reading just about anything. The history books, books on alchemy, books on politics. Books on tactics were her particular favorite, history coming in a close second. She would never call herself a scholar, but, as the saying goes, those who do not know history are bound to repeat it. When she read about tactics, which interested her more than anything else, she slightly tweaked it. Those who do not know failed tactics are bound to repeat them. She told him of all the times she and Brother Darion fought over her joining the Legion. But she also told him of the time when she had been very sick, and he had nursed her back to health, ignoring everything else. The time when he saved up all the money he could just to make sure she could have the book, Mixed Unit Tactics, she wanted. He wrapped it up in beautiful red paper with gold ribbon and she was scared to even touch it, because she thought she would break it. He didn't like her fascination with the book, and the desire to join the Legion it enflamed. But still, he had gotten her the book. The time when she had loved some guy from Hammerfell, and he loved her, and she thought that feeling would last forever. Then he left her to go to the Arena. She had been crying for weeks, and Avitus and Brother Darion got her the best chocolates from southern Morrowind.

Before, she was angry, or sad, or amused, or happy when she thought of those memories. Now, all she felt was a pull in her stomach. Sometimes, she wished those times had never ended. But there was no point in that. No matter what she wanted, it wasn't going to change anything. She needed to focus on what was actually happening, not what she wished had happened. After all, if wishing did anything, then her father would still be alive, she would still be with her mother, she wouldn't have gotten anywhere near execution, and there would be no dragon. If wishing did anything, then the original Martin Septim wouldn't have died, her family would have stayed on the throne, the Thalmor wouldn't even exist, the Empire would have never fallen into decline, and she would have been born a princess, a future legitimate Empress, who had nothing to be afraid of and never suffered a single thing in her life, not the scion of an illegitimate line of an illegitimate line. But wishing didn't do anything.

She changed the subject. "Do you know Ralof? The way you reacted, and you knew his name."

His face darkened.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked that, it's none of my business."

"No it's alright. You're right, I do know Ralof. He grew up in Riverwood, same  
as me. For years, we were the best of friends. Then, the war started, and everything changed. He sided with the Stormcloaks and I sided with the Empire, and things just changed. We started arguing all the time. There was nothing we could agree on, except that we hated each other. We had this fight two years ago, he broke my nose and I gave him a black eye. He ran off to join Ulfric and I went to join the Legion. I haven't seen him since. I guess all that anger... just came out."

He looked upset and Merina wanted to go comfort him. She just didn't know how. She had never been good with emotional people and she knew even less about helping them. But she moved closer to him and put her hand on his, in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture. He didn't move or push her away.

They sat there, in silence, just staring at the fire, for what seemed like hours. In actuality, it was more like twenty minutes. Then they looked at each other and laughed nervously, not really sure why. They pulled away awkwardly and looked at each other once more before laughing again. They went to sleep after that.

Merina dreamed again. Usually, she didn't have dreams. And if she did, she didn't remember them. Like everything else in her life, that was changing.

She was in darkness, in what was vaguely a pitch black room, but she wasn't sure. At first she was alone, but then she saw her father. He looked at her, his eyes completely white and glowing. He didn't even seem to recognize her.

"You know what to do."

Suddenly, her hair was whipping, and her voice was drowned out, but there was no wind. More and more people appeared, all with glowing white eyes. All of them were saying, "You know what to do."

She kept saying, yelling at the top of her lungs, "No! I don't!" But no one seemed to even acknowledge that she'd said anything.

She was turning wildly, trying to find some way out. But more and more people showed up, surrounding her in a large circle. As more and more arrived, she saw that some of the new ones were wearing the amulet and the emperor's crown, a golden diadem inset with diamonds, rubies, and amethysts. These were her ancestors. She recognized a few of them, but most were unknown to her.

There were so many of them, that their cry was now deafening. Then, suddenly, part of the circle opened up, and one man walked to her. The shouts were now murmurs and their words blended together.

The man was closer and she could see him more clearly. He was at least a foot, almost two, taller than her. Unlike the others, his eyes were not glowing nor were they white. They were a dark, stormy grey. He a long nose, narrow eyes, a strong jaw, and more than a few laugh lines. His hair and beard were dark brown with a few strands of grey. The strangest thing about him was that he had a dark storm cloud above his head. When she saw that, she knew where one was. She started to go to her knees, but he stopped her and gently pushed her back up.  
His voice was firm, but kind and gentle. "You know what to do."

"No— no I don't." Her voice was shaky, the opposite of his.

He looked at her, not unkindly, with a small, knowing smile. She sighed and her body sort of crumpled.

"But— how? How am I ever going to be able to do this?"

He smiled at her again. This time she got angry. "If you're a god, can't you just tell me how this is all going to end up?"

"I know as much of the future as you do. But you," He pointed to her, "are Merina Septim. You won't give up until you find a way."

He took her hand and pressed something into it, but she couldn't tell what. Suddenly, the man looked startled. He tried say something, now looking uneasy but she couldn't hear him anymore. He started fading, first from the legs and then going upwards. Faster than she could even move, he was gone, like he had never been there at all. Everything started swirling together and she started getting dizzy. All the voices were getting louder and louder, moving together unintelligibly. They were getting closer and closer, and now the sound of huge, wings came. She saw the outline of a dragon, searching. It was getting closer and closer and somehow she realized that it was looking for her. Suddenly, she was burning, everything was on fire! She screamed, completely confused, and, even though this was a dream, felt like she The last thing she saw was the dragon's face, with long black scales, two nasty looking horns, and eyes the color of the hottest flames. he opened his mouth to blast her with more fire and she screamed once again.

Then, she was awake. Hadvar had been shaking her, so her upper body was slightly off the ground, and he was still holding her upper arms. He was staring at her in confusion.

"You were having a nightmare and were flailing around. I thought you were going to hurt yourself."

She nodded, realizing she was in a little shock, as she was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide. Once he moved away, she opened her left hand. In it was a necklace, a small raven with its huge wings spread out wide and rubies for eyes on a silver chain. She knew that necklace, it had been one of the two things she had kept from before her father died. He had given it to her as gift when she was nine and told her it was a family heirloom. But in her rush to get out, she had left it in Kvatch. There was one other thing in her hand, a note. It said, "Go to her mausoleum. Knock three times on the coffin lid. Then put it in the door."

There wasn't much she could do about that now, as she didn't think even attempting to go back to go a good idea. She only had to look at how leaving had worked out to see that. She placed both the necklace and the note into her bag, and hoped that she wouldn't lose it. She wasn't sure what it was going to give her, she hoped it wouldn't give her some creepy final words of somebody or of some skeleton. That would just be creepy.

They didn't have anything to clean up, so they were on their way soon enough. The sun was just starting to rise, and since it was almost winter, that meant that at least they weren't up obscenely early. The sky was a deep red, and it remade Merina of a saying she had once heard. Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning.

Author's note: I will be using game dialogue at times. Any dialogue that you recognize isn't mine. Thanks again to my beta and, once again, I own nothing. I've edited this chapter too and fixed the places where the dialogue cramped together. If anyone sees anything like this in further chapters, tell me in a review and I'll fix it.


	4. Before the Storm

_"This is the period of Merina's life where we begin to have records of where she was. However, precious few of these are actual primary sources. Most of the records were in the Imperial Library that Merina built, and in 397 5th Era, a little over three hundred years after her death, it burned down. The documents we do have, such as the one written by the woman herself, all have an agenda. Most are legends from the time, and if they have any truth are highly exaggerated. This makes writing about the woman very difficult as often, no one knew where she was or what she was doing until she once again encountered General Tullius and the Legion."_

_~ Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

Hadvar was correct when he said that it would take them three days to reach Riverwood. And those were not three peaceful quiet days in which nothing gave them any trouble. There were wolves, everywhere. Wolves that would fight in a pack and try to surround the two of them. These were not wolves that would generally leave people alone. These were the wolves that always, always wanted to eat them. Wolves that liked to attack at night, preventing sleep. Wolves that were generally a nuisance.

By the time they got to Riverwood, they were annoyed, tired, wet (it had rained), and hungry. Merina had never thought she could have ever missed Brother Darion's cooking as much as she did in those two days. She was, months later, going to realize that it could be much, much worse. It was worse, when not only were you hungry, annoyed, and tired, you were also so far north that you never really got warm and instead of wolves, you had angry frost trolls and ice wolves. Now, ice wolves were also wolves, hence the name, but they were ten times meaner and, more importantly, ten times tougher. But that was besides the point, and at that point Merina hadn't factored in how much she hated the cold.

When they got to Riverwood, it was the 21st of Last Seed and about three in the afternoon. Even though they had finally dried off, the water's chill was still there and they were covered in mud. There were at least seven scratches on Hadvar's arm, neither of them could remember where he got them, and a few more on Merina. All either of them wanted to do was just lie down on an actual bed. Indoors. Where there were no wolves. Getting to the town was a relief for Merina. The light at the end of the tunnel.

The town was much smaller than Kvatch and much different. Instead of marble, the buildings were made of wood. In style, they sort of reminded her of the temple back home. On the left side, there was river and a mill with a water wheel churning in the river, making small white waves. The mill was the biggest building in the town. On the other side were the smaller buildings. The one closest to her she assumed to be a house, since an old woman was sitting in a wheelchair on its porch. She was arguing with a younger (he was about her age, perhaps a bit older) blond man. There were a lot blond men in Skyrim. It would be easier to say who wasn't blond.

"I saw a dragon! It flew right over the barrow!"

The man didn't believe seem to believe her, but of course Merina did. Stuff like that was easier to believe when you had actually seen the dragon in question. They kept walking for maybe a minute more until they reached a blacksmith's shop, she could tell by the forge and the sign which had the customary anvil on it, near the river. She saw another blond man, but this one at least ten years older, standing in front. His brows were furrowed and his mouth was pursed.

"Uncle Alvor, hello!"

At this, the man's face brightened up. But he looked confused and said,

"Hadvar what are you doing here? Are you on leave from the— Shor's bones, what happened to you, boy? You look like you lost an argument with a cave bear. Are you in some kind of trouble—"

Hadvar hushed him and said, "Uncle, keep your voice down, I'm fine. We should go inside to talk."

"What's going on? And who's this?" Here he gestured to Merina.

"She's a friend. Saved my life in fact. Come on. I'll explain everything, but we need to go inside."

"Okay, okay. Come inside then. Sigrid will get you something to eat and you can tell all about it.

The shop also doubled as his house, because they simply walked across the porch and went inside.

Simply stepping inside sent a wave of nostalgia, homesickness, and a bit sadness through Merina. She really couldn't quite remember what her old house looked like, she couldn't remember much of anything from the part of her life that felt like it had never really happened. But she supposed that it had to have looked this. The house was small, with a double bed against the wall right next to the fireplace and a small chest in front of it. Against the right wall of the house was a smaller bed. Probably for Hadvar's cousin. He had mentioned her name in passing. What was it? It started with a D, she knew that. Dorea? Dorothy? Whatever her name was, the girl was sitting at small table, also against the right wall, in one of two chairs. Next to it was a large cupboard. Practically everything was made of wood, with the exception of the fireplace.

Alvor walked over to a larger table, which had some food on it, that Merina looked with hunger. There hadn't much food in wild. Must have all been scared away by the dragon, she supposed, except for those damn wolves and neither of them of them had dared suggesting eating them. They weren't that desperate. It was lucky that that they had grabbed some food from the keep or they might have been.

Alvor shouted, "Sigrid, we have company."

A woman, with the same shade of dark blonde hair as Merina's, walked up a flight of stairs next to the left side of the small house. "Hadvar! We've been so worried! Come, you two must be hungry. Sit down and I'll get you something to eat."

Since Alvor was already sitting down, Merina guessed that Sigrid was also talking to her. Hadvar sat across from Alvor, so Merina sat in the third chair at the head of the table.

"So, Hadvar, what's the big mystery? Why are you doing here, looking like you lost an argument with a cave bear?"

"I don't know where to start. You know I was assigned to General Tullius' guard. We were stopped in Helgen when we were attacked... by a dragon."

"A dragon? That's... ridiculous. You aren't drunk, are you, boy?"

Sigrid chided him. "Husband, let him tell his story."

Hadvar shrugged and let out a sigh. "Not much more to tell. This dragon flew over and just wrecked the whole place. Mass confusion. I don't know if anyone else got out alive. I doubt I'd have made it out myself, if not for Merina here." He jerked his head a little towards her when he mentioned her name. "I need to get back to Solitude and let them know what's happened. I thought you could help us out. Food, supplies, a place to stay."

"Of course!" Then Alvor looked at her. "Any friend of Hadvar's is a friend of mine. I'm glad to help in anyway I can. But I need your help. The Jarl needs to know there's a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenseless."

Merina couldn't refuse him, not after he'd offered her food and a place to stay. She took only what she needed. Just two loaves of bread a bottle of mead. She wouldn't feel right taking anymore from those who had so little. She hadn't noticed it at the time, but she'd had a lot back in Kvatch. At least she had a four walls and bed. She had food. She'd even had a couple luxuries, like books. She didn't need to work to survive. Now she going to have to depend on the kindness of others.

The little girl started talking, fast and excited. "Hadvar, did you really see a dragon? What did it look like? Did it have big teeth?"

Sigrid hushed her. "Don't pester your cousin."

The girl— Merina finally remembered her name, it was Dorthe— didn't say anything more, so Merina asked Hadvar for directions.

"Go down the road and over the bridge, turn right and follow it until you get to a the Honningbrew Meadery—there'll be a sign. You should see a city by that point. That's Whiterun. The Jarl lives in Dragonsreach, it's at the top of the city."

She thanked him for the directions, and thanked Alvor and Sigrid for all they had given her. She started towards the door, but as she reached for the handle, Hadvar tapped her arm. She turned, rather confused. He gave her a smile. "You know, as far I'm concerned, you've earned your pardon. But until we get that confirmed by General Tullius, you should probably avoid any Imperial soldiers. Just to avoid complications." He then looked at her, like he was trying to figure out what to say next. "Listen, after you warn the Jarl, you should head up to Solitude and join the Legion."

She chuckled a little at this. "Join the people that nearly cut off my head. How tempting."

He smiled again at her. "I know today wasn't the best introduction. But if the rebels have themselves a dragon, General Tullius is the one who can stop them."

"Actually, I just might. But not now. I think— I think there's more to this dragon problem than meets the eye. Just call it my gut."

He nodded. "Well, good luck."

"You too."

After that, she walked, questions racing through her mind. She had never understood that prophecy about the last Dragonborn, and no one had, until she had that dream. She hated prophecies. She always had. They were always cryptic, you never understood them, not until they were completed and absolutlely. They were always laced vague language. If the Divines wanted to help people by giving them warning, they could at give them in clearer words. Besides, there weren't many prophecies. The few people with the gift, or curse as some people would call it, mostly had visions. These weren't much better than actual prophecies, they small, often hundreds of years in the future, and the people who saw them usually no idea what was going on or who it was about.

But there was no time to brood over that at moment. She more important things to do, and questions were going to have to be put on hold. As was getting revenge. Though all she wanted to do was just go out, find, and kill, that monster, she had to admit that she had waited almost eleven years for this. She could wait a little longer. Stopping the end of the word without question took precedence.

She considered grabbing some food from the inn "The Sleeping Giant" because she wouldn't feel right taking anymore from Alvor and Sigrid, but decided against it. She could eat later. Warning the Jarl about the dragons was more important than her grabbing a bite to eat. Besides, she didn't really have much money. Just about twenty septims, which would give her two nights in an inn.

So she kept on walking, right past the town's northern wall and basically right on to a bridge. The view from the bridge was beautiful. There were so many trees and flowers along the river's banks. And the river itself was just as lovely, rushing and gurgling down south. The entire place was like something out of a fairytale.

But she kept moving on. This really wasn't the time for sightseeing. She continued down the cobblestone path, whistling as she went. The road to Whiterun was easy, and actually quite pretty, in a rural sort of way. She remembered the last time she had went down that road, it was with Brother Darion. She quickly learned, however, that the roads had become much less safe than before, because a pack of wolves jumped out her.

Wolves weren't exactly the most fearsome beasts of Skyrim she had faced (that honor went to the Frost Trolls), but they were annoying, especially in a pack. She pulled out her sword, which was iron, not the best type, but it would have to do. The wolves weren't hard to beat, but because there were at least five of them, she did get a cut or two on her legs. She was going to have to patch her pants soon enough. She pulled out the healing potion and dropped some of the liquid on the scratches. It stung a bit, but it was better than them getting infected. Because the wounds were so minor, they started closing up as soon as the red liquid touched them.

She kept going, and soon a castle was in view. Dragonsreach, she vaguely remembered. Now that it was in sight, she broke out into a run, wanting to make sure that the dragon didn't attack Riverwood before she could get them protection.

The town (it really wasn't big enough to be a city) was exactly as she remembered it. A grey stone wall that was starting to fall into disrepair surrounded it, with an entrance way that she walked through. This was outermost part of the city from what she remembered. It had wooden towers all the way up to the gate that were surrounded by natural rock formations. Then she came to part that was still in good repair, the one held the drawbridge over a moat, that wasn't very thick, but it was a far enough drop down, that anyone would need to cross t bridge to go over it. Finally, she got to the one entrance into the city, the large wooden gate. Two guards were standing in front of it. The one on the left side walked up to her.

"Halt! City's closed with the dragons about."

Merina didn't even bother with courtesies. "Listen I was at Helgen. I know where the dragon's going."

The guard back towards the other. When the one who was still standing at the gate shrugged, the one in front of her looked back at her and, with what she could tell was reluctance, said, "Fine, but we'll be keeping an eye on you."

She practically ran through the gates as soon the guards opened then and proceeded to race through the city, trying not to bump into anyone. She ran through the main square, up some steps, but stopped in front of a huge, white, leafless tree. The time she had been here, it had been alive, thriving. What had happened? What really caught her eye was the statue at the edge of that part of the city between two flights of stairs. It was a statue of Talos, she remembered it from the time she had been here. She also remembered the surprise that it was still there. The only statues you would see of Talos in Cyrodiil were the ones so far out in the wilderness, that no had bothered to cover up or destroy. But here was one, right in the middle of town. She didn't remember the priest that was in front of it, however. She would have remembered that one almost screaming about the virtues of Talos and his great power. But she moved, she had a job to do. She went to biggest flight stairs yet, with the first set having stone dragon heads, at least that's what she thought they were, on it above two braziers. Beyond that was a bridge its water flowing next to it from grates on the next flight of stairs.

The entrance to Dragonreach, once she had gotten up to it, was beautiful. There was more water on each side of the path to the huge doors. Along side the stone path were high wooden arches. Dragonsreach itself was a huge wooden building, with four more ornamental dragon heads on the edges of the roof.

She half walked, half ran to the doors and pushed them open as quickly as she could, which was which was a bit slower than she had thought, because the doors were heavier than they looked. Dragonsreach was just as impressive on the inside. There was a fancy rug from the doors to wide flight of stairs. Next to the rug was a set of archways with engraved patterns near the bottom.

As soon as gotten up the short flight of stairs, she was obviously in the dining area, because two, very long tables, with a fire in the middle. She saw what she guessed was Jarl, as he was sitting in a throne that was directly below could have been a dragon's skull. But before she could get of the Jarl, a Dark Elf woman in steel armor approached her with a sword in her hand.

"What's the meaning of this? Jarl Balgruuf is not allowing visitors," She said in a tone seemed like that if Merina said the wrong thing, this woman would have no problem with stabbing her.

"I have news from Helgen. About the dragon."

The woman studied her, probably trying to figure out if Merina was telling the truth. Apparently, the woman thought that Merina did, as she said, "Well, that explains why the guards let you in."

She sheathed her sword and walked back to the Jarl. Merina followed her. She approached the Jarl. He had blond hair, as seeming everyone in Skyrim did, that was about shoulder length. He wearing a diadem encrusted with a ruby and two emeralds. His clothes were finer she had seen in Skyrim yet, with a fur cape and fur in the leather boots.

"So, you were at Helgen." He said, "You saw this dragon with you eyes."

She thought a snarky comment about her almost execution, but thought it wiser to not mention that. So she merely said. "The dragon destroyed Helgen. And last I saw, it was heading over the mountains, coming here.

The Jarl seemed shocked and rather angry. "By Ysmir, Irileth was right!"

Merina could have sworn she knew that name, Ysmir, not Irileth, but she couldn't place it. She supposed that Irileth was the Dark Elf's name, it didn't sound like a Nord name. Her suspicions were probably right after Jarl Balgruuf turned to man next to him and said, "What do you say now Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?"

Unless Irileth was the name of the man sitting at the table eating, which she doubted, that was definitely the Dark Elf's name.

"My lord, we should send troops to Riverwood at once." As she said that, she walking towards Jarl Balgruuf. "It's in the most immediate danger. If that dragon is lurking in the mountains..."

But the man on the left shook his head and interjected, "The Jarl of Falkreath will view that as a provocation! He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him."

The Jarl seemed a bit irritated at this point, "Enough!" He then turned his head to the Dark Elf woman, "Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once."

"Yes, my Jarl."

Proventus tried again, "We should not—"

Jarl Balgruuf interrupted him, seeming more than irritated at this point. "I'll not stand by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people!"

At this, Proventus backed down. "I'll return to my duties."

In a curt tone, the Jarl replied, "That would be best."

Then, Jarl Balgruuf turned to her. He didn't seem angry, at least at her, which was good. "Well done, you sought me out on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it. Here, take this as a token of my esteem."

At that, he motioned to a servant who was carrying steel armor. The servant came over and gave it to her. Surprised, she thanked the Jarl, but he waved it off. The armor was a bit bigger than what would fit her, but if she just put it over the leather she'd been wearing, it would fit fine. However, she didn't think this was the time to do that.

Jarl Balgruuf began to speak again, "There is something you could do for me. Suitable for your particular talents, perhaps. Come, let's go find Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into these dragons and... rumors of dragons."

They walked down the small flight of stairs and into a large room on the right. It had all the sorts of things you would need for sorcery, she saw potions and a couple soul gems lying around. There was also an enchanter, an alchemy table, and, oddly, a map of Skyrim. In the middle of the room stood a man in a blue robe and hood.

"Farengar, I think I've found someone who can help you with your dragon project. Go and fill her in with all the details."

"So the Jarl thinks you could be of use to me?"

Merina nodded, did he not hear Jarl Balgruuf say that?

"Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there."

Well at least he was honest about it. But Merina wasn't just about to risk her life without asking questions first. Like, say, why she was getting this tablet.

"What does this have to do with the dragons?"

He seemed rather impressed. "Ah, no brute mercenary, but a thinker. Perhaps even a scholar?"

"Perhaps, but, please, answer the question."

"You see, when the stories of dragons began to circulate, many dismissed them as mere fantasies, rumors. Impossibilities. One sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything that falls outside his experience as being impossible. But I began to search for information about dragons - where had they gone all those years ago? And where were they coming from?"

Good questions, she had to admit, but now she would need directions.

"So what exactly do you need me to do?"

"I, ah, learned of a certain stone tablet said to be housed in Bleak Falls Barrow - a 'Dragonstone,' said to contain a map of dragon burial sites. Go to Bleak Falls Barrow, find this tablet - no doubt interred in the main chamber - and bring it to me. Simplicity itself."

If it sounded that simple, it most assuredly wasn't going to be. But at this point, she didn't have much of a choice. She pulled out her map and had him mark the barrow. It was on a mountain, and if she just went almost back to Riverwood and just before crossing back over the first bridge went left, she would be on the path. She remembered seeing a sign for it on her way to Whiterun.

The Jarl started talking to Farengar, but she didn't stick around to listen. She left Dragonsreach, but before leaving the city, put the steel armor above her leather armor. No sense in going into a dangerous barrow without all the protection she could have. Even if she usually went for speed, she was going up against dragons and Divines knew what else. It was time to change her style. By the time she got back to Riverwood, it was nighttime, and she didn't feel safe going up a mountain in the dark.

She asked Alvor and Sigrid if she could stay in their house for the night and, luckily, they agreed. She slept in a chair that night, not the most comfortable, but glad to at least not be sleeping out in the cold. Before she fell, she heard about how one of the shops got robbed. Apparently, only a golden claw was stolen. What got her attention was the fact that a reward was being offered. She needed all the money she could get.

As soon as she woke up, she thanked Alvor and Sigrid again and left. She once again, walked through town, passed the inn, went over the bridge, and this time, went left. She was walking up the mountain, watching out for anything. Suddenly, a wolf jumped out at her, but before it could do anything, she had embedded an arrow clean through its skull. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get the arrow back out. She needed as many arrows as she could get.

The farther she went up the mountain, the colder it got. Icy wind was blowing across and it felt like it was just going through her. She was not dressed for this weather.

'When I get the money,' she promised herself, 'I am buying a coat. A nice, wonderful, warm fur coat.'

It was a good thing she didn't say that out loud, because just then she saw a crumbling tower come into view. And just as soon as she saw that, she saw the bandits.

Originally, she just tried to slip by them. There was no point in antagonizing the bandits. But that didn't work, because one of the bandits was leaning against a tree and could see her from every angle.

He said, in what she supposed was supposed to be a threatening tone, "That's close enough."

But there was no way around him and this was important. If someone was asking about other dragon burial sites, then maybe, and she didn't like going down this line of thought, because it opened up an entire new can of worms, but maybe dragons were coming back to life. She had no idea how, the idea seemed totally implausible, but it was the only one she had.

So she pulled out her sword and ran up to the man. She apparently caught him off guard, perhaps he wasn't used to people not running away from him and his threats, because he didn't even pull out his weapon and just stared at her like she was an idiot.

Before he could snap out of his shock, she thrust her sword into his abdomen. He screamed and out of the corner of her eye, she saw another man, this one run out of the tower, pulling out his bow and an arrow as he did.

But Merina moved fast and moved behind the tree. It wasn't in any way, shape, or form good for protection for very long, as demonstrated by the arrow that whizzed past her head, almost impaling her in the eye. But it did give her a chance to pull out her bow and an arrow of her own. She readied the arrow and as quickly as she could released the arrow, hoping that it would hit the man. She hadn't had time to aim.

Merina got lucky, her arrow pierced right through his armor into the lung area. Merina thought she heard more bandits coming down from the tower, but she didn't stick along long enough to find out. She started running as fast as she could up the mountain, barely able to see from the snow that was coming down in torrents.

The wind was colder than ever, and it was a relief to see the barrow come into view. It was a massive stone structure. Parts of it were admittedly starting to fall into disrepair, but it was still an incredible sight on the mountain. The only problem with it that she had was the bandits. There were three of them. One immediately came charging at her, sword in hand, bellowing something about Skyrim belonging to the Nords. She quickly pulled out her bow and shot an arrow at him. Her aim was a bit off, it hit him in the arm and only slowed him down for a second. Realizing she had little time, she immediately fired another arrow. This time her aim ran true, and the arrow pierced him right in the eye. She had no time to be pleased with her aim, as there were still two more bandits to deal with.

This time, she was going to use her sword. She practically flew up the steps, making sure not to run in a straight path to make it harder to hit her. She went for the archer that was closer, the archer on her right. She ran towards him as fast as she could, so that he wouldn't be able to pull out any close range weapon before she could strike. Before he could do anything, she stabbed him as hard as she could in the stomach.

She didn't have time to think about what she was doing, she dropped the sword, leaving it in the now dead body, and ran as quickly as she could, barely touching the stone floor, towards the last of her attackers. As she did, she pulled out her dagger. Just as she got in range, she slowed down a little and threw the dagger as hard as she could at the man. It stabbed him square in the eye, but since that wasn't a killing blow, Merina kept running towards him.

He was on his knees, screaming in pain, his hands over his face, turned away from her, when Merina got to him. She would have felt sympathy, but she couldn't feel anything beyond the blood pumping fast and loudly, the pounding in her head, her ragged breathing, the howling wind that was cutting through her, and the snow that was chilling her to the bone. He collapsed onto the floor and didn't move.

She came at him from behind and he gave her no sign of realizing that she was there. She pulled out one of her arrows and pushed it through his neck. He collapsed onto the floor and didn't move.

She stood there for a few moments, catching her breath. She stared away from the man, not wanting to look at him. She took a deep breath to steady herself. And then another. Then she turned back to the man on the ground and pulled the arrow out of his neck and wiped it off on her pants. Then she turned his body over, trying to look at the face as little as possible, and pulled the dagger out as well. Merina tried to not look at the dagger as she wiped it off.

She walked across the floor and up the stairs. Just as she was about half way up the stairs, she turned to the body of the first archer and pulled her sword out of his stomach, wiped it off, with the knowledge that she was going to have to get her pants cleaned, or just get new ones. Then she continued up the steps. She opened the barrow's large doors as quietly as she could, not knowing what would be on the other side.

As it turned out, there were two people, a man and a woman, talking about a third man who wasn't around and some gold claw. Merina hid behind a column and slowly pushed her head beyond it.

The pair hadn't noticed Merina yet, so she pulled another arrow out and readied her bow as quietly as she could. She took her time in aiming, as the two people showed no sign of noticing her. The woman was the one with the bow, as Merina thought it would be easier to go for the close range fighter after losing the element of surprise. She could block a sword or dagger. Without a shield, she couldn't block an arrow. She took a deep breath and pulled the bowstring to her cheek. Then she released, hoping that everything would go according to the sketchy plan she had just made in the last minute or so. As much as she wouldn't like to admit it, she wasn't going to be able to keep this up. She had been fighting in the biting cold more than once and hiked up a mountain with the wind slicing through her without so much as a coat. She was tired, slowing down, even if she liked to think she was fine, and at this rate, she was going to get hypothermia.

She was lucky, very lucky. The arrow killed the woman quickly and her partner apparently couldn't figure out where the arrow came from. From the way the bandits had been talking about some guy named Arvel and it sounded like he had hired them to get some kind of treasure. Merina wasn't exactly sure about treasure, although from her travels, she would hardly be shocked, but what really got her confused was why this Arvel guy hired these second rate thugs. She guessed that the bandits in the tower where with the other bandits, they were just too close together for it to be any other way. If all these bandits, who were thugs and thieves combined, could be taken down by one person, this Arvel wasn't getting his moneys worth.

The still living bandit was crouching next to the woman's body, his hand on her shoulder. Merina took her chance and fired another arrow. It was a clean shot.

Now that the room was empty, the only thing Merina could hear was her own breathing. The huge interior of the barrow smelled odd. Musty, sort of like the Temple back in Kvatch.

The only way to go was down, so that was where Merina went. The barrow looked like no one had been in it in centuries, especially once Merina stopped going down stairs, through a hall, and into an actual room. Cobwebs littered the ceiling corners. Dust was everywhere, the stone table in the corner of the room, the book on the table, the floor, everywhere except a few jars. The jars were golden and looked like the funeral urns Merina had seen in the barrows she had searched with Brother Darion. From what she remembered, they usually had offerings, like jewels or money. Merina felt uncomfortable to say the least about stealing from the dead. But, as she constantly reassured herself, she needed the money more than the dead did. Either way, she felt shady, but it was a choice between feeling shady and having a coat in Skyrim's freezing weather.

There were a few coins in the jars, but not enough. Soon enough, Merina was moving on, going down the next hallway. She stopped, however, when she saw in the next room, another bandit. She stopped and moved away from the entrance. She would have gone on the attack, but the man was moving towards a lever in the middle of the room that she guessed opened the gate at the end. If she could sneak by him...

But that wasn't necessary, nor was it possible, because as soon as the man pulled the lever, a flurry of arrows came out of the top of the wall and killed the man instantly.

'Well,' she thought nervously, 'This could be a problem.'

She looked up to see three engravings coming out of the upper wall in front of her. The one on the left was of a snake, the one on the right was what looked like a fish or maybe a whale, but the one in the middle seemed to have fallen off. She just had to guess that it was the engraving that was on the floor, the one in a pile of rubble. When she looked down at it, it also showed a picture of a snake.

When she turned to her left, she saw three turnable statues, right against the wall, just where she thought they would be. If this was like most Nord ruins, then if she turned the statues to show the right picture, it would disarm the trap and open the gate.

She decided going left to right and used all of the strength in her arms to turn them. Those statues were heavy. Eventually, she got them to show the emblems on the wall: two snakes and a whale. She hesitantly walked up to the ladder, knowing that she needed to be right, and pulled it, jumping out of the reach of any more darts that could fly at her.

As it turned out, she didn't need to. No darts came flying down and the gate opened with a loud creak that anyone in a three mile radius could have probably heard. It was good that the gate had opened. It was bad that anyone who wasn't dead would now know that she was there.

Such as the three skeevers that came running up a set of stairs in the next room. If there was anything more annoying than wolves, then it was skeevers. They were huge rats that were always hiding in the strangest of places. At least they weren't really dangerous.

The room was small, with a small stone table that had three golden urns and a book on it. She ignored the book, it was on thievery, she didn't think it would be very useful, and went for the urns. Urns, from what she remembered of Nord tombs, usually had some kind of offering, like jewels or money. While she felt like a skeevy, shady, grave robber (which she kind of was at this point, even if she didn't like it.) Even if she felt horrible, she needed money. She needed food, a coat, a place to live more than the dead did. What could they do with money? So she took the few coins that were in the urns, even though she didn't feel so great about doing it.

The stairs were covered in cobwebs, Merina swore that she was going to wash her clothes as soon as she could, and they creaked every time she took a step. The wood looked like it would break at any moment, so she took light steps.

She managed to get down the stairs with the steps (and her legs) intact, but there were a few close calls. The room she was now was much larger with another stone table, this one in the middle of the room. On the table was a scroll and a grey bottle. On closer inspection, Merina could tell that by reading the runes that this was a scroll to make a fireball. The bottle was a paralysis poison, she could tell by the color and the label.

She picked them up and put them in her bag. She continued walking, going down a small set of stairs and continuing into a hall. But by the end she was had a feeling she wasn't alone, because she was hearing a suspicious scuttling noise, where she couldn't tell. She stopped, narrowed her eyes, and put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Her feeling was reaffirmed by the fact that a man started calling out, "Is... is someone coming? Is that you Harknir? Bjorn? Soling?"

She then pulled out her sword and went into another room on the left. As soon as she got in, she knew what she was dealing with. There was a set of arches to walk under, but they were covered in spiderwebs. She would have to cut through them.

Her sword did the job in two cuts, creating a hole large enough for her to slip through. As soon as she did, she found out who had been calling. It was a Dark Elf man, who was probably wearing armor if the leather helmet on his head indicated anything, and he had been almost completely enveloped in spiderwebs.

She now knew where the scuttling sounds had come from, and when she looked around, that was when she heard some more. She turned around, only to see a giant spider standing in front of her, it venom covered pincers clicking together. This wasn't like the spiders she had encountered with Hadvar, this was at least five times bigger. Bigger than two of Merina combined.

She put her sword in front of herself defensively. She did not want to know what those pincers felt like. The spider was a lot faster than its size would have had Merina think, but she managed to jump and land on its back before it could bite her.

She would have moved to stab the thing, but she was having a hard time staying on top of the spider, there was nothing for her to grab onto, and the spider was doing its best to knock her off. For a few minutes she managed to stay on its back, but barely. Then she was thrown off, and her left leg slammed into the wall, but she managed to hold onto her sword, and fell to the floor in a heep. Her bag slammed into her as well as soon as she collided with the wall. The spider was quickly approaching, it's many legs scuttling across the stone floor. She quickly, desperately searched through her bag until she found the grey bottle she was looking for. She had just managed to coat the sword's tip with the stuff, before the spider was right in front of her. Without any time to think about what she was doing, she stabbed it in one of it's many eyes. It reared up, probably effects of the poison, and Merina stabbed its soft underbelly. She managed to pull her sword out and roll out of the way before the spider fell on top of her. She hadn't realized how loudly and hard her heart had been beating, or how quickly she was breathing, until then.

She got up, her legs aching from the fall, but she was very lucky it wasn't something more. She dusted the dirt, and, well, dust, off of herself and turned to the man encased in the web. As soon as she had done that, he began speaking, very loudly and very quickly, "You did it you killed it. Now cut me down before anything else shows up."

However, Merina was suspicious. This was probably the Arvel that the bandits had been talking about. She wasn't about to trust a bandit so readily. Besides, this Arvel probably knew that if she had come this far, no one was coming to help him. And he certainly didn't know why she needed to get through the barrow. He was probably desperate and would say anything.

"Where's the golden claw?"

On the other hand, however, Merina's curiosity had been sparked. She wasn't sure what it was, or what it was supposed to do, but if he was offering it in return for saving his life, it had to be valuable. And if this man had brought it here, then it probably had something to do with the barrow. Whatever it was, she wanted it. And once he started talking about markings, a "hall of stories," and power the Nords had hidden, her curiosity only increased. So, against her better judgement, she did what he asked.

And, just as she thought, he wasn't trustworthy at all. As soon as she'd cut him down, he ran off, yelling about how the claw and the treasure was his. Merina stood there for a moment, biting the inside of her lip as she fumed. Then she took off running.

By the time she got to him, he was dead and there were three draugr in her way. Draugr were ruthless, could take more wounds than humans could on account of be the undead, and even if you killed them, they would eventually just come back. However, they were pretty dumb and there were wounds even they couldn't take. They also had a weakness for fire. Before doing anything else, she picked up the claw and put it in her pocket.

Merina put up her sword in a classic defensive pose and looked around for something to use. That was when she saw the trap. It was a small circular bump on the floor, but by the light markings on it and the spiked gate close by, just waiting to launch, she figured out what it was.

She began running at breakneck speed. When she got to the bump, she quickly sidestepped around it and avoided the trap. The draugr did not. When Merina turned around, she saw all three draugr lying on the ground unmoving. She didn't take time to muse on how very stupid draugr were and just kept moving.

The next section of the tomb was just as full of draugr as the one before and it too had a trap. This one had three swinging blades. If she timed it correctly, then she could get through, and if the draugr followed her they wouldn't be so lucky. She ran towards the blades, and stopped just in front of them. She didn't have much time, draugr weren't as fast as the living, but they were hardly slow. When she looked behind her shoulder, they were almost within stabbing distance. At that moment, she saw that now was her chance, and she quickly darted past the blades. Just as she predicted, the draugr were cut down and she was free to go on.

Each time she went into a new part of the tomb she had to do this, over and over, sometimes killing them outright and other times using traps. At one point she took out about six draugr by burning them using the oil they were all standing on and cutting down the lantern just above it. She had barely avoided getting herself killed. At first, she had been fine, but over time she began to wear down. At first she couldn't tell, her moves were barely slower, she could only tell because she knew how she was at her best. Now, it was worse. She was sitting down, pressed up against the wall, trying to catch her breath in the stale air. Her entire body was aching after her constant fighting and running. At this point, all she wanted to do was sleep. Actually, no, that wasn't it. All she wanted to do was get out of this Talos forsaken place. But wanting and ten septims would get her a room at a fair priced inn. She was going to get, whether she was tired or not, and find a way out (And the claw, as it turned out, had unlocked a huge door. So it was useful after all.)

She pushed herself up, and brushed as much dirt off her hands as she could. Then she went on walking, hoping that this tunnel would lead her to what Farengar needed her to get. She realized this was rather self centered, as this was going to help people stand up to a dragon, but she wanted a reward.

The tunnel finally funneled out into the largest room in the barrow yet.

'This has to be the main chamber,' she suddenly realized.

She looked around, trying to find where that stone she was looking for could be. What did it even look like? She had forgotten to ask about that key detail. And he had forgotten to mention it. Her mood was getting darker and darker as she walked around the room.

When she had finished completely searching the room without finding a thing, she went to the one thing in the room that was getting her attention, a huge part of curved wall with strange symbols on it. She was no master of linguistics, but somehow she knew that this was no human or elven language. One word in particular called out to her, emanating a bright white light. She moved closer and closer, until her nose was almost touching the ancient grey stone. Somehow, she could read one of the words–– or at least, know what the symbol meant in the spoken language of... well whatever it was. It was "fus". She didn't know what it meant, but she was focusing more on the fact that she could actually make out that it meant anything at all. How had she known that?!

She didn't get much time to question that, as just then the stone lid of the coffin in the middle of the room burst open. She would never tell anyone this, but she screamed. A very high pitched, very loud, curse filled scream. The draugr that stepped out of the coffin didn't seem ruffled. He was charging at her, much faster than she suspected, and she barely had time to pull out her sword and block the heavy strike from the thing's huge, steel blade. The draugr was strong, very strong, and stronger than her. It was all she could do to keep her blade locked with his and she was moving back, by now almost pushed against the wall. She could feel sweat dripping down her forehead, even though the barrow was drafty and cold. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips were pursed. She was not going to fall.

But she did, her head hitting the stone slab as she did. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, the draugr stepping forward, lifting its sword. In that moment, she knew that if she didn't do something quick, she would die. It was something she hadn't felt in a long time. Even at the execution, it just hadn't felt real. It was like a dream and that feeling hadn't been there. The last time she had felt that, that feeling of complete terror, that horrible lack of control, was the day her father had been butchered.

The thought of her father and his death spurred her into action. Suddenly, she wasn't so tired and her limbs were free of all soreness. Just before the sword came down on her, she rolled out of the way and stood up, sword in hand. She ran at the draugr and when it blocked her, she kicked it in the shins. It fell and as it did, she stabbed it, her sword going through its skull.

She pulled her sword out and wiped it off on the thing's armor. She really needed to get a rag or something for this thing. It was getting ridiculous. After she finished that, she walked over the draugr's coffin. There really was no other place the stupid stone could be. Unless it wasn't there, a nasty voice in her head whispered. She, as always, ignored that voice. She didn't know what she was going to do if it wasn't.

And it was good that she did, because that stone that she had risked her life more than once to get. She picked it up and looked at it. On one side it had strange markings like the ones on the wall. When she turned it over, and looked at it closely, she saw that it was a map of Skyrim.

Merina carefully placed the Dragonstone in her bag, she didn't know how old the thing was, it could have been very delicate. She walked up the flight of stairs in the back of the room, and seeing no other choice, pulled the lever that was on a stand against stone cave wall. The lever was what apparently caused part of wall to rise, giving her just enough space to walk through, which she did.

It was an exit! Merina thanked all the Nine at least five times because at last–– at long last–– she was out of that horrible place! Or, at least she would be, when it wasn't night and there wasn't a huge snowstorm. At that moment, all of Merina's exhaustion returned in full force. She propped her head against one of the cave walls and immediately fell asleep.

A/N: sorry about the long wait, no excuses except writers block and then technology problems. Thanks again to my beta. Once again, I do not own Skyrim and any dialogue you recognize is not my own.

A/N by beta: Sorry for late update. Hope y'all enjoyed it. Update schedule should be more regular from now on.

[a]


	5. Dragon Rising

_"The first certain record, and the first one to be an actual primary source, comes from the Greybeards. It took me many years to gain access to the knowledge, and it was well worth the effort. Most biographers do not go to the Greybeards for information, they are notoriously isolationist and do not speak to anyone but a Dragonborn. I had to get into contact with Emperor Uriel X and have him get the Greybeards' information. As I said, the information was very much worth the effort, as it showed Merina was, or at least where she was going, for at least half of the blank spots in her life."_

_~ Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

By the time she got back to Whiterun, after running away from giants, having to completely turn around, getting lost at least three times, and going back to Riverwood to return the golden claw (which earned her a nice amount of gold) it was four days after she had left, and, thankfully, the dragon situation didn't seem to have changed. When she got back to Dragonsreach, Farengar was speaking to a woman in the room. Her face was shrouded by a hood and she was wearing layers upon layers of leather armor. The woman only a little taller than Merina, which was a surprise. Most people even of average height towered above her. It was a nice surprise that someone was actually close to her in height who wasn't a child. Which meant that the woman was probably a Breton. Probably.

"You see, the terminology is clearly First Era or even earlier. I'm convinced this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps dating to just after the Dragon War. If so, I could it to cross reference it with other later texts."

"Good. I'm glad you're making progress. My employers are anxious to have some tangible answers."

Merina could have sworn she knew that voice, she just couldn't put a face to it. The voice was rather low, with a harsher edge to it, rather like her own. Her mind knew it from _somewhere_, she could without a doubt recognize it. She just couldn't remember where. What was more worrisome was what the woman was talking about. "Employers"? Who was this woman working for? The Thalmor? The Empire? The... what were they called, Stormcloaks? Was Farengar in league with them?

Farengar began speaking again, "Oh, have no fear, the Jarl himself has finally taken an interest, so I'm now able to devote most of my time to this research."

"Time is running, Farengar, don't forget. This isn't some theoretical question. The dragons have come back."

"Yes, yes. Don't worry. Although the chance to see a living dragon up close would be tremendously valuable..."

Merina decided now was the time to announce her presence, "I assure you, it really isn't worth the effort."

Farengar and the woman seemed to have finally noticed her. Farengar said, with something that was a cross between incredulity and bemusement, " Hmm? Ah, yes, the Jarl's protege! Back from Bleak Falls Barrow? You didn't die it seems."

"So it seems. Listen, I got your dragon stone." Merina pulled it out and held it out towards him expectantly.

Farengar wasted no time in grabbing it, looking it over with an excited gleam in his eye. He then realized that both women were still looking at him, waiting for something. He sighed and put the tablet back on his desk.

"It seems you are a cut above the usual brutes the Jarl usually sends my way."

"So you've got the stone. What do you need it for? And who's she?" At that, Merina nodded her head in the woman's direction.

"My... associate here will be pleased to see your handiwork. She discovered its location, by means she has so far declined to share with me."

Merina wanted to tell him, perhaps with some sharpness, that he hadn't answered her question. But the woman spoke before she could. Looking at Merina she said, with some surprise, "You went into Bleak Falls Barrow and got that?" Then she begrudgingly added, "Nice work." The woman then began to speaking to Farengar again, "Just send me a copy when you've deciphered it."

Merina tried to turn and speak to her, to ask her if they'd ever met, and perhaps get a better answer as to who this woman was, but the woman began to walk away and brushed her off. Merina didn't have much time be offended, or question why the woman was secretive, (or try and figure out _why_ that woman's voice was so familiar, it was driving her insane from the moment she half recognized it), because just then, Irileth ran into the room.

"Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon's been sighted near by."

Apparently Merina had spoken too soon about the dragon situation. Then Irileth looked at Merina, "You should come too."

Merina wasn't so sure. She was hardly humble about her skills, but she wasn't so sure how helpful they would be against a dragon. She had no idea what would actually kill a dragon. At Helgen, nothing had seemed to even injure the beast. The only way she, Hadvar, and anyone else managed to escape was by running away as fast as they could. If this was what dragons were like, Merina wasn't sure why they had gone away in the first place. But there was no time for that kind of thought. If people thought she could help stop a dragon, then she would do what she could.

Whether or not it would actually make a difference.

The three of them began running, the mysterious woman gone from both the room and Merina's thoughts. They raced up the stairs, to see the Jarl looking even more worried than he had been when she'd given him the news about the dragon. She was about to ask him what was going on, and from the look on Farengar's face, so was he, when a guard ran up to the Jarl, panting for breath, his sword still tightly clutched in his fist, the veins bulging.

The Jarl was the first to speak. "So, Irileth tells me you came from the Western Watchtower?"

"Yes, my lord."

Irileth tried to encourage the man, "Tell him what you told me. About the dragon."

The man took a breath, as if he was trying to believe what he was saying. If Merina didn't know what seeing a dragon was like, and that feeling of no this isn't happening, this can't be happening, she would have thought he was lying. "We saw it coming from the south. It was fast... faster than anything I've ever seen."

Jarl Balgruuf began asking him urgently, "What did it do? Is it attacking the watchtower?"

"No, my lord. It was just circling over head when I left. I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it would come after me for sure."

"Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it."

Irileth began walking toward the Jarl.

"Irileth, you'd better gather some guardsmen and get down there."

"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate."

"Good. Don't fail me."

The Jarl then walked up to Merina. "There's no time to stand on ceremony, my friend. I need your help again. I want you to go with Irileth and help her fight this Dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons then anyone else here. But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me in retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar. Please, accept this gift from my personal armory."

It was a beautiful sword, made of steel, but unlike anything she had ever seen. This had to be the legendary Skyforge steel she had heard about. She tried to thank him, but he simply waved it away.

Farengar began speaking again. "I should come along. I would very much like to see this dragon."

But Jarl Balgruuf rejected him, "No. I can't afford to risk both of you. I need you here working on ways to defend the city against these dragons."

Farengar looked unhappy about it, but nodded.

"One last thing, Irileth. This isn't a death or glory mission. I need to know what we're dealing with."

"Don't worry, my lord. I'm the very soul of caution."

They left after that, in nearly a run, in complete silence. They pushed through town, slowing down and trying to appear as if was wrong. When they reached the gate, Irileth suddenly stopped and Merina almost ran into her.

There were about ten guards amassed in front of what Merina supposed were the barracks. They looked uncertain and wary, with good reason. They were all going on what was pretty much a suicide mission. The only one with any experience with dragons was Merina and she wouldn't call her's solid information. She, in all honesty, felt unless. She wished that she had information of _some _use. She wished it was more than "the only thing you can do is run away."

Irileth sensed the mood as well, and immediately began speaking, saying a rousing speech. As she spoke, everyone seemed a little more confident. They might even be able to kill this thing! Even Merina was starting to feel a bit hopeful. It was possible! They could do this! Probably.

They walked out of town, with what was almost a spring in there step. When they got to the Western Watchtower, however, that optimism faded.

The tower looked more than a little damaged. Parts of it had been completely destroyed and there were flames everywhere. There was so much smoke and another smell that Merina didn't want to think about. The dragon was nowhere in sight, but Merina involuntarily started remembering Helgen. She tried to squash those those thoughts as quickly as she could. Thinking about Helgen wouldn't do any good.

Irileth started talking. "I know it looks bad, but we've got to figure out what happened. And if that dragon is still skulking around somewhere." She pulled out her sword and everyone else, including Merina, did the same.

"Spread out, and look for survivors," was the last thing she said before she started running towards the main tower.

Merina did the same, it was the only still standing structure. If anyone had survived, they would be in there. Just as she was going up a part of broken structure that now doubled as a ramp, a guard ran out of the tower, blocking their path.

"No! Get back! It's still around here somewhere. Hroki and Tor just got grabbed by it."

Merina didn't move and instead surprised herself by speaking, in what was a surprisingly calm voice. "Where is the dragon now? Which way did it go?"

But before the guard could say anymore, there was a deafening roar. Merina knew that roar, her heart began to race and she unconsciously began to shake. She instantly pulled out her bow.

The guard yelled in a voice of absolute terror, "Kynareth save us, here he comes again!"

Irileth took control of the situation, shouting, "Everyone take cover and make everywhere arrow count!"

She continued running towards the tower and rushed through, bounding up its stairs until she got to the very top of the tower. It wasn't much for defense, but at least she would be able to see where the overgrown lizard was coming from.

Just turning to her right allowed her to find out. It was coming from the mountains. She immediately pulled out an arrow and readied it. She pulled back the bowstring as far as she could, taking a deep breath in as she did. Then, as soon she had, she released both the arrow and her breath.

The arrow flew straight, piercing the beast in the middle of its neck, but it didn't even slow the beast down. It reared up and immediately started flying right towards her, moving faster than she thought possible. She practically threw herself back down the stairs, barely missing the dragon's fiery breath.

Well, she couldn't go back there. That was when she noticed the window.

She could see the dragon just about to spew fire in her face. There was no time to run and no where to go. In that split second, she released the arrow and as soon as she did jumped away from the window, just to the right, so close, she could feel the the heat of the flames on her cheek.

The dragon flew away so fast, she couldn't tell if her arrow had hit the damn thing or not. She didn't have time to think about it, as the dragon had landed on the top of the tower, its massive size causing most of the ceiling to come down. Not wanting to get crushed by falling rubble, Merina had no other option than to run out of there as quickly as she could.

It was windier than it had been before. She had no idea why, but that was the first thing she noticed. Most of the guards were dead, the rest were hiding behind rubble. Almost all of the ground was on fire. It didn't feel real.

The monster flew off of the tower, its roar so loud, Merina wanted to cover her ears. She pushed herself against the tower wall, praying to all of the Divines that it didn't see her. She was breathing in quick, short breaths, her heart racing, and her legs felt like they were going to collapse.

The dragon didn't focus on her, instead going for the last of the guards, who were hiding behind the largest piece of rubble. But instead of staying in the air, the dragon went to the ground. Merina couldn't see what it was doing, but from the lack of fire, the way one of guards was screaming, and the way that the dragon was swinging its head from side to side, it wasn't hard to make a guess. Merina felt bile come into her throat and it was all she could do not to heave.

Merina didn't even realize that she was running until she was until she was halfway to the dragon. She hadn't realized she'd dropped her bow and pulled out her sword until she was almost close enough to stab the dragon.

That was when the dragon started to fly up, its huge wings darkening the sky over Merina. But she didn't stop running and in mid run, instead, she jumped, grabbing on to the end of the dragon's tail with her left hand, holding on for dear life. She moved the sword from where it was clenched in her right hand to her mouth, now holding on to the blade with her teeth, and began to climb.

The dragon didn't notice her until she was on the middle of its spine, its scales jabbing into her. That was when it began to try to shake her off, to no avail. Even though she was getting swung from side to side, each time her legs hit the thing's scales caused another cut, the scythe like scales digging into her arms, her hair whipping in her face, making it difficult to see, she kept moving forward, clutching onto the dragon's jagged scales, putting one hand in front of the other.

Getting to the dragon's head was a saving grace. She grabbed onto one of its horns and used it to stand herself up. The dragon wasn't to far off the ground, which was good, because she hadn't exactly thought this through when she jumped on it. Seeing no alternative now, she put her sword back into her right hand, the one that wasn't gripping onto the dragon's horn for dear life. Then taking a deep breath, she let go of the horn and grasped the sword with both hands.

The dragon seemed to have realized what she was attempting and in a voice that sounded afraid, it yelled, "Dovahkiin?! Niid!"

Feeling like she was standing on a tightrope, she yelled out an unintelligible battle cry and put all her weight into thrusting her new steel sword into the dragon's skull.

She breathed a sigh of relief and promptly proceeded to panic, as the dragon's body was quickly hurtling towards the ground. She didn't even have time to comfort herself with the knowledge that the dragon wasn't too high off the ground, (even though it was still a good sized drop) about the same height of now destroyed watchtower's window.

When the dragon slammed into the ground, she was thrown off about ten feet in the air and hit the ground pretty close to the dragon. She layed there for a good minute or so, needing a moment to get over the shock of the landing and a second to steady herself.

When she was able to stand herself up, she stared at the dragon's huge corpse in disbelief. She was relieved that the thing was finally dead, but it felt more like a dream than reality. The feeling of it being a dream only grew stronger when the dragon's body began to burn away.

At first, it was just a few, small scales that floated off the body. More and more floated off, until they, both scales in the air and those still on the corpse, began to burn in a golden light. That was when streams of white light started to fly off the dragon's body, causing Merina to stumble back. Whatever those streams of light were, they were coming right at her. She didn't  
like the idea of that.

More and more light came off of the dragon, until Merina couldn't even see the corpse anymore. Suddenly, she was enveloped in it, she couldn't see anything but that golden light. She saw that wall again, the one with the strange markings. The word that she had seen before, in the barrow, the one that had seemed to glow, glowed once more. She saw it a thousand times, over and over. Before, somehow she had been able to read it, but now she understood it. Force. Forcing your own will into the physical world. That dragon, –– Mirmulnir, somehow she knew that was its name— somehow, she knew the dragon had something to do with it.

As soon as that revelation had come to her, the light began to fade. For a second, she had to steady herself, she felt like she was about to faint. She wasn't sure if that was from the strange light or the fact that her body had finally realized that it was out of danger and hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks. Perhaps both.

There was nothing left of the dragon except a large skeleton and a few large scales that somehow hadn't burned away like the others. She remembered reading something about how dragon bones and scales were used by the best blacksmiths for some of the royal Imperial armor. Merina wondered how much she would get for selling some of those bones.

She felt like she was getting stared at, so she turned around and saw the guards, who were standing behind her, gaping at her. Merina hadn't realized that they were behind her until that moment. One of them came up to her, complete shock evident from his expression.

"I can't believe it. You're... you're Dragonborn!"

Merina knew that, but she also knew that just announcing it would just be suspicious. And besides, what did being Dragonborn have to do with whatever just happened? So she said, "Dragonborn? What do you mean?"

"In the very oldest tales, back from when there were still dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborn would slay dragons and steal their power. That's what you did, isn't it?"

Merina had never read of those stories, but dragons never really had been of interest to her. The information seemed useless at the time. She was regretting that now.

Another guard started talking. "That's right. My grandfather used to tell stories about the Dragonborn. Those born with the dragonblood, like old Tiber Septim himself."

All of the guards were talking now, "I never heard of Tiber Septim killing any dragons."

"There weren't any dragons then, idiot. They're just coming back now for the first time in... forever."

"What do you say, Irileth? You're being awfully quiet."

"Come on, Irileth, tell us, do you believe in this Dragonborn business?"

Irileth scoffed. "Some of you would be better off keeping quiet than flapping your gums on matters you don't know anything about. Here's a dead dragon, and that's something I definitely understand. Now we know we can kill them. But I don't need some mythical Dragonborn. Someone who can put down a dragon is more than enough for me."

"You wouldn't understand, housecarl. You ain't a Nord."

Irileth seemed a bit offended by that, and in Merina's opinion, rightly so, "I've been all across Tamriel. I've seen plenty of things just as outlandish as this. I'd advise you all to trust in the strength of your sword arm over tales and legends."

At that Irileth turned away from the guards and walked up to Merina who was standing in complete silence, just staring at the dragon's carcass.

"I'm taking control here for the moment. You head back to Whiterun and let the Jarl what happened."

Merina nodded, still a bit in shock. A _dragon_. She had just _killed_ a _dragon_.

The walk back to Whiterun was a slow one. She could barely comprehend what had just happened. _She _had just killed a dragon. Her hand was clenched around her bow, which she had picked up before leaving, twisting around it. Merina's thoughts were going to dark places. That prophecy. The world eater wakes. And the wheel turns upon the last Dragonborn. What did it mean? What was she supposed to do?

_The last Dragonborn._

Her train of thought was broken just after she had gone through the city' states, because suddenly the ground started shaking, as if there was a massive earthquake. Merina stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

"Dovahkiin!"

Everyone on the streets looked up when they heard that loud call. No one was sure where it came from, but everyone seemed rattled. Once Merina recovered her bearings, she continued walking to the Dragonsreach, but a little faster.

The Jarl was speaking with a man when she entered.

"You heard the summons. What else could it mean? The Greybeards..."

The Jarl seemed to be lost in thought after that, but he quickly broke out of it and turned to Merina, who was now standing in front of the steps before the throne. "So what happened at the watchtower? Was the dragon there?"

"It was. We managed to kill it, but... you're going to need a new watchtower."

Jarl Balgruuf nodded, "I knew I could count on Irileth. But there must be more to it than that."

Merina slightly grimaced. This was the part she had wanted to leave out. She pushed it out as fast as she could, her words almost garbled, "It turns out I'm Dragonborn."

"Dragonborn? What do you about the Dragonborn?"

Merina shrugged, "What everyone knows. But, when the dragon died, I absorbed some kind of power from it."

Jarl Balgruuf didn't seem too shocked, as if he had been expecting _someone_ to say this. "So it's true. The Greybeards really were summoning you." Then he turned to the other man, "You heard the summons. What else could it mean?

Merina had to ask, she really had no idea who they were talking about, "Who are the Greybeards?"

Jarl Balgruuf was the one to answer her, "Masters of the Way of the Voice. They live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World. The Greybeards..." The Jarl was once again lost in thought.

The other man began speaking at that point, "Didn't you hear the thundering sound as you returned to Whiterun? That was the voice of the Greybeards, summoning you to High Hrothgar! This hasn't happened in ... centuries, at least. Not since Tiber Septim himself was summoned when he was still Talos of Atmora!"

Proventus seemed skeptical and was pretty derisive when he said, "Hrongar, calm yourself. What does any of this Nord nonsense have to do with our friend here? Capable as she may be, I don't see any signs of her being this, what, 'Dragonborn.'"

'Well isn't that just lovely for my pride,' Merina thought.

Hrongar went red in the face, "Nord nonsense?! Why you puffed-up ignorant... these are our sacred traditions that go back to the founding of the First Empire!"

The Jarl intervened, "Hrongar. Don't be so hard on Avenicci."

"I meant no disrespect, of course. It's just that... what do these Greybeards want with her?"

The Jarl was the final authority on the argument, "That's the Greybeards' business, not ours." Then he turned to Merina, "Whatever happened when you killed that dragon, it revealed something in you, and the Greybeards heard it. If they think you're Dragonborn, who are we to argue? You'd better get up to High Hrothgar immediately. There's no refusing the summons of the Greybeards. It's a tremendous honor." Suddenly, Jarl Balgruuf seemed wistful, "I envy you, you know. To climb the seven thousand steps... High Hrothgar is a very peaceful place. Very... disconnected from the troubles of this world." His voice then grew bitter, "I wonder if the Greybeards even know what's going on here. They haven't seemed to care before." He cleared his throat, "No matter. Go to High Hrothgar. Learn what the Greybeards can teach you."

Merina was about to turn around and leave, to go and do what he asked, but the Jarl said one more thing.

"You've done a great service for me and my city, Dragonborn."

"Listen, if you're offering me a reward, I'd be happy with just a coat."

Jarl Balgruuf laughed. "You'll get that and more. By my right as Jarl, I name you Thane of Whiterun. It's the greatest honor that's within my power to grant. I assign you Lydia as a personal Housecarl, and the house Breezehome. I'll also notify my guards of your new title. Wouldn't want them to think you're part of the common rabble, now would we? We are honored to have you as Thane of our city, Dragonborn."

Merina bowed slightly and thanked him. The Jarl pointed to a woman near the entrance. That had to be her... well whatever a housecarl was.

When Merina walked over to the woman, the first thing she noticed about Lydia was that she was tall. Well, everyone here was tall, but it was still always a shock when she met people. This woman was especially tall, she towered above Merina and was probably more than a foot taller than her. She had a long, rather stern looking face that was framed by straight thick, dark brown almost black hair. Her eyes were grey, the same color as the steel armor she wore.

"I thought you'd be taller." Then Lydia blushed, as if she hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Merina laughed.

"So you're my..."

"Housecarl. As you are my thane, I am sworn to your service. I'll guard you and all you own with my life."

"So you're my bodyguard."

Lydia didn't even move a muscle, but she didn't look pleased with that title.

Merina pushed a bit of her hair behind her ear and moved her weight from one foot to the other. "So, um, I need to go to see the Greybeards. So, I suppose that we're off to High Hrothgar?"

"As you command, my Thane."

"You know what? Call me Merina."

Merina began walking towards the great doors, and Lydia flanked her, like a dark (much taller) shadow. And they were off. Well, as soon as Merina got her coat.

Merina hadn't realized how much she had realized she had loved riding horses until she had to trek across Skyrim, which was hardly flat country, on foot. The company wasn't much better. Things were, to put it mildly, awkward. Really awkward.

On its own, traveling with practically a stranger was going to lead to uncomfortable situations on its own. Most of the time, they were walking in awkward silence. Merina could tell that she wasn't who Lydia had expected to serve. For one, she wasn't a Nord. That was a big one. She wasn't the tall, two sword wielding, honor before reason hero like the one from legend. She was a pale shadow of the most famous of dragonborns and she knew it. She didn't really live up to the hype. Even though she was born here, she had lived just a bit longer in Cyrodiil. And both her parents were from there. Even though she still loved the place, with its beauty and wide open spaces, she knew very little of the culture and the people. In all honesty, the parts she knew about she didn't really understand. Why were they so gung-ho about honor before, well, everything? She didn't always think things out, but it wasn't because of honor. Why was Talos so important that people would go to war over him (she was descended from the man and it wasn't _that_ important to her)? Why was milk drinker an insult? She just couldn't understand it.

So the culture clash was a big problem on the trying to get along front. There was also the added problem of finding a topic that they could talk about. The normal ones would be things like who are you and why did you decide to become a bodyguard. But that would mean Merina answering the follow up of why had she come to Skyrim. And even if Lydia was sworn to serve her, she thought that it was definitely too soon to even think about mentioning that. Each person she told that to was in danger. And, as a small weasel like voice in her head whispered, was a danger to her.

But lying came easily to Merina these days, even if she didn't like it and thought that it wasn't a good way to befriend someone. But she could simply chose not to reveal everything. That would be okay, wouldn't it? Well, perhaps close to okay.

So, as they were walking near a river and would soon be going over a bridge, she tried to start a conversation.

"So why did you decide to become a bodyguard?"

Lydia frowned and looked skeptical, "You mean a housecarl? It is a great honor. Any true warrior would be honored to be one." She then quickly added, "My Thane."

Merina smiled, with amusement in her voice, "Really, it's okay if you call me by my name."

Lydia returned the grin with the smallest upturning of her lips that could just barely be called a smile. She stared off towards the river on their right. "My mother was one of the Companions. So was my father. I was raised on those tales of bravery and honor. They trained me in everything they knew. Swords, tracking, archery. I wanted to be brave and honorable and slay monsters, just like they did."

"I guess you got your wish."

"I suppose I did. Just not the monsters I was expecting."

"Are your parents still Companions?"

"No, they left a few years before I was born. There was some dispute between them and few others and the Circle–– the greatest of the Companions. It was some religious dispute, they didn't like to talk about it."

They walked in silence for a moment or two. Then Lydia turned her head towards Merina, a questioning look on her face. "So, what about you? Why did you come to Skyrim?"

"Is it that hard to believe that I'm a local?"

Lydia raised an eyebrow.

Merina smiled. "That obvious, huh? Well, it's a long story."

Lydia cocked her head towards the mountain in the far distance. "We have time."

Merina smirked. "So we do. I lived in Kvatch, with my uncle, the priest. Things were great. I got into some trouble with the Thalmor. I left."

"And went to the place the Thalmor crack down on the most?"

"Let's just say I was a bit misinformed about the political situation in Skyrim."

They fell into silence after that, just walking along the well worn path. But the silence wasn't as awkward as it had been.

Perhaps she traveled faster with Lydia, but even though they had to go around a mountain, they made good time in getting to Ivarstead, it only took them two days. The roads were pretty empty, just a couple of wolves and bandits, nothing Lydia or Merina couldn't handle. Merina didn't say anything, but she was thanking the Divines that there wasn't another dragon. Sure, she had defeated one, but she had an entire contingent of guards helping her. She didn't doubt Lydia's skill or anything like that, but it was just the two of them against a dragon. She didn't like the odds of that. But she didn't say anything. Her pride wouldn't let her. Brother Darion always told her that pride came before the fall, and for her it was going to be a very long fall. She told him that she was going to make sure that she never fell. He always scoffed when she said that.

But she had left something out whenever she told him that. She might fall. But no one would ever have to know it.

Ivarstead was even smaller than Riverwood, which Merina hadn't thought possible. When she had traveled through Skyrim, they didn't go through the small towns, just the large cities. Or at least, she didn't. Sometimes, Brother Darion said it was too dangerous, and left her in an inn, without saying where he was going or what he was doing. All he told her was that if he died, she had to go to Windhelm and tell the Jarl who she was and show him the amulet. She told him that no one was going to keep a girl safe on a _possible_ lineage to an outlawed god and an amulet that could be a fake. When she had said that, he told her, in almost a whisper, that she doubted the power of faith. He was right, she supposed. Brother Darion _had_ been talking about a man who raised in rebellion, risking both his own life and that of his supporters, because of Talos. That was probably an oversimplification of the entire thing. She had, after all, been getting her information from the Empire. The same empire that called the rebellion "mild discontent". She no longer entirely trusted their information.

The next thing she noticed about Ivarstead was how quiet it was. The streets were completely empty. She could practically have heard a pin drop. The only noise seemed to come from the raging river, the slight wind, and the chickens, and even they were silent, apart from the odd cluck or two. In fact, she didn't hear any noises from _any _animals. Lydia seemed to notice something too, she had narrowed her eyes and Merina could see her ready to pull out her sword at a moments notice. Merina put her hand up in a cautionary gesture. They didn't want to terrorize the locals by barging in someone's house, kicking down the door, swords in hand.

Merina pointed to the inn. If anyone would be out of their house, it would be for a drink. Plus, unless the innkeeper was filthy rich, the inn would double as their home. Merina walked forward, slowly. Whatever was keeping these people in their homes couldn't be good.

Whatever it was, Merina didn't want to provoke it.

She walked up as softly as she could, what with the heavy armor, which was surprisingly much quieter than she thought it would be. Lydia had less success. Merina pulled at the doorknob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. That would have been good, they wouldn't have had to go to drastic measures to find out what was going on, but really it just made the pit in her stomach sink even lower. Whatever was terrifying these people, both farmers and guards, locks weren't going to stop it. She turned to Lydia, who seemed no more pleased than Merina about this. But she nodded and Merina opened the door slowly. She walked in, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade. If whatever the monster was, was in here, she wanted to be ready.

At first, the inn looked empty. Abandoned mugs rested on abandoned tables, the chairs haphazardly pushed around them. It was dark, all the candles had been snuffed out. At first glance, no one was there. So Merina was going to do something that was really stupid. If the... whatever it was, was in here, this would let it know that they were there. Something that got even heavily armed guards to run and hide. Merina didn't want whatever it was jumping out at them from dark corners.

But the much less rational side of her was in control at the moment. Was anyone injured? Did they need medical attention? Merina was no professional, nor was she a priestess of Kynareth, whose healing powers were that of legend. But she did know the basics. And what was terrifying the town? If she knew what it was, perhaps she could stop it. Or at least help.

So, summoning every ounce of courage, recklessness, and bone headed idiocy she had in her body, she called out, "Hello, is anyone there? I'm not here to hurt you, my name is Merina, and I want to help." She then sighed and said with more confidence than she actually had, " And I'm the Dragonborn."

Maybe if she said it enough, it would actually have some meaning.

She turned around and was about to leave, ready to check one of the houses or the guards' barracks, when she heard tentative footsteps. She turned around to see an almost completely bald man. He looked frightened, but a bit hopeful.

"You— you're Dragonborn?" He said in a hoarse voice.

She nodded and tried to smile a little.

"I thought you'd be taller."

She laughed a little. "So did I."

Then she grew more serious and in a darker tone, she asked, "What happened? Is anyone hurt?"

The man shook his head, then looked nervously out the slightly open door. "It— it came yesterday."

"What did?"

He didn't seem to have heard her, he just continued on, his voice getting faster and more high pitched as he went, "We heard it before we saw anything. At first we thought it was the ghost— the one from the barrow— but then we saw it."

Merina had a feeling that she knew what it was. So she took a deep breath to steel her nerves. She didn't want it to be what she thought it was. She wanted it to be something incredibly silly. But she had to ask. She took another deep breath and asked, again, much more confidently than she felt, "Was it a dragon?"

The man nodded. Merina put her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Listen. Staying in your homes is a death trap. If the dragon comes back, it will come back and burn them with you in it. You need to get everyone out and go out into the open. Go into the woods, find a way underground, find a stone building— like the barrow just outside of town— stay by the water, run to Riften, just don't start inside _wooden buildings_, be ready to run, and most importantly _arm yourselves_."

The man didn't look very happy, but he nodded.

"Okay, which way did the dragon go?"

Lydia stared at her, she was either questioning her sanity (Merina certainly was) or she was actually pleased. From the small inclination of lips, Merina guessed it was the latter.

"It went to the mountains."

Well, at least it was somewhere convenient.

Apparently, the only way up the mountain was the seven thousand steps. The walk was quiet, except for their resonating footsteps clacking on the old stone. Merina had her bow out and Lydia was holding her shield in one hand and the other was on the hilt of her sword. For most of the way, nothing was there. And Merina could see why. The farther they went up, the colder and windier it got. Merina felt like her fingers were going to fall off. But there was something big enough, tough enough, and dumb enough to stay on the mountain.

A frost troll.

Wonderful. The only way to the isolationist monks living at the top of a mountain was one path that was now blocked by a Frost Troll. An angry, violent, probably rabid, Frost Troll. This couldn't get any worse.

Merina had to stop thinking things like that (they really did only tempt fate), because just then she heard a roar. A load, terrifying roar. No. Not this. Not now.

Merina turned to Lydia. For a second, the Nord woman's face was fearful. But her face quickly hardened and she pulled out her sword and put her shield in front of her. Then Lydia charged the troll.

Merina didn't have time to watch that battle because she had to take on the dragon. She pulled out her bow and shot at the beast a few times, trying to lure it in.

The trick worked and the dragon landed. It was right in front of her and just as it opened its mouth to send a plume of fire at Merina, she jumped out of the way to the dragon's side. She plunged her sword into its abdomen, but that only seemed to annoy the dragon. It started to fly, her sword still stuck in it, bringing Merina along with it. She tried to climb up it, but with her weak grasp on the sword, which seemed to be sliding out of the dragon as she held onto it, she was quickly thrown off before the dragon got too high up.

She fell in a heap on the snow, which was lucky, because she was about an inch from falling on a pile of rocks. Nothing seemed to be broken, but in that moment, her body was in too much shock for her to move. She saw the dragon open its mouth to breath fire and put her arms in front of her face in a vain attempt to protect herself, bracing herself for the fire and a painful death. But it didn't come. Instead, Lydia was standing in front of her, her shield blocking the flames.

Merina jumped back up on her feet. With Lydia shielding her from the dragon's maw, which, for the moment, had stopped billowing fire, she ran back to her sword, which was still stuck in the dragon's side, and pulled it out. When she saw that it was still focused on Lydia, she jumped on top of its head and pushed her sword through its skull. She realized she was doing the same thing as last time, but hey, she knew it worked. Why fix what wasn't broken?

Just like last time, that golden light enveloped her. Just like last time, the dragon's body burned away until there was nothing left but bone (which this time she managed to hack off. She'd heard that dragon bone was used in the best of armor. She could probably sell it for quite a bit of gold. That brought a smile to her face. That smile faded when she actually had to find a way to stuff said bones into the bag.)

"It seems you truly are the Dragonborn." One of Lydia's eyebrows was raised and her voice was close to its usual almost monotone, it was a little more high pitched.

"So it seems." She didn't mean for it to be almost a whisper, but that was how it came out. She had known that she was Dragonborn as far back as she could remember. She hadn't known what it meant. She had known that it had something to do with her family and the amulet of kings, but that was it. She certainly hadn't thought it had anything to do with killing dragons. Then again, her mother did tell her about dragons. She still didn't know how her mother knew any of that, but there had to have been a reason. Unfortunately, her mother didn't seem to have known much and besides, Merina could only remember one of the stories. It was something about a dragon who had done the most evil of things. But when the rest of the dragons were killed, he escaped through trickery and manipulation. That wasn't the most useful of information.

It hurt to think of her mother. Like an itch she could never scratch, a wound that could never heal. Merina hadn't seen or heard from her in ten years. And ten years was a long time. In some ways, even though it hurt like an arrow to the knee, thinking of her father was easier. At least she knew what happened to him. Was her mother still even alive? Sometimes, when she was younger, she would lie awake for hours dreaming of the day that her mother would come back. It would be in the middle of the day and her mother would burst through the temple's great doors and tell her that it was time to go home. To be a family again and that they wouldn't have to hide. And even if she would miss Kvatch and all the people, it would be worth it to be with her mother again. But that was a long time ago and she had soon learned that those were foolish dreams.

Thinking of her mother brought another emotion with it. One she didn't like to think about. One she wouldn't even name. Naming would make it real. Making real would a make a crack, if ever so faint, in the pedestal she had sat her old life upon. A pedestal that she did not did not dare touch. For one crack would bring it crashing down. But the emotion was still there, slithering around like a snake, tainting everything in its path. It whispered in her mind, every time she thought about her mother.

'She was very quick to get rid of you,' the snake would whisper.

Merina would stop that voice, refuse to listen to it, deny it all she wanted. The snake would merely coil back, hiding the darkness and the shadows. No matter she tried, no matter she fought, no matter how much she raised the pedestal, the snake remained.

'She was very quick to get rid of you.'

Merina ignored it, per usual, pushing it back into the part of her mind of her mind where she never went. The part she didn't like. The part she wanted to sever ties with, but never seemed to be able to. Merina pushed back to the shadows. But, the snake remained.

The monastery was now in sight and it wasn't very long before they had reached the stone steps and the imposing grey doors and quickly dashed inside.

The monastery was a welcome respite from the harsh snowy weather and frosty winds, one Merina was immensely grateful for. Lydia didn't seem very affected by the weather outside, her expression was still that of utter seriousness, her posture completely straight, her shoulders tight, but Merina noticed a change in even her as soon as they walked through the monastery's huge doors. So that mountain was cold even by Nord standards. Or, at least, southern Nords. She'd heard that it was warmer in the south. If that was what was considered warm in Skyrim, Merina didn't want to know cold. She didn't know how anyone could _live_ in this weather. She didn't know how she had lived in Skyrim for ten years, in the mountains no less. She must have said that out loud, because Lydia said, in what was clearly amusement, "You get used to it."

That was the first time Merina had seen Lydia smile. Really smile. She smiled in a way Merina didn't. In fact, she had dimples. It was kind of strange to see those on such a serious looking face.

For a few minutes, they simply stood there, catching their breaths and staying close in an attempt to get warm as quickly as possible. Their breath was still coming out in little puffs of steam, they were just starting to realize how drafty the monastery was, when they heard someone come down a set of stone steps in the middle of the large room.

It was an old man in grey robes with a hood. His eyes were also grey, as was his beard, but his face did not have as many wrinkles as his grey hair would imply. For a moment, they all just stood there in silence. Merina vaguely noted that more men, dressed the same way as the first, were filing out out of the hallways on two sides of the room. The first man spoke first. "You stand in High Hrothgar, on the slopes of Kynareth's sacred mountain. We are the Greybeards, followers of the Way of the Voice, Here we commune with the voice of the sky, and strive to achieve balance between our inner and outer selves. Who are you and why are you here?"

Merina cleared her throat. "I'm Dragonborn. And I want to find out what that means." She looked down, "If you'll teach me."

Author's note: Thanks to everyone who read. Once again, I don't own Skyrim and any dialogue you recognize is from the game. My beta was unfortunately unable to edit this chapter. I went over it, but it's probably not at the usual quality. I apologize for any wonky grammar. By the way, thank you to Desplaisance de la Nuit. They saw and pointed out to me through a review that got me to find and fix the error. I write this on an iPad and my spell check is really, really weird at times. I have a second keyboard thing on the iPad for my spanish class and sometimes my bad spell check to change words into Spanish. I usually see this as I'm typing and fix it, but I must have missed this one. If you see something like this, please tell me and I will fix it!


	6. The Way of the Voice

_The last member of the triumvirate seems to have joined up soon after Merina first met the Greybeards, as this is the first time she appears is in Kynesgrove. While everyone else Merina ever knew, or was close with, is dead simply through the passage of time, she is the only one without a recorded death and is indeed believed to be alive. Her name is Serana._

_~Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

The Greybeard didn't seem surprised. "So, a Dragonborn appears at this point in the turning of the age. We will see if you truly have the gift. Let us taste of your voice."

Merina wasn't so sure. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but how bad could one word be? Besides, these were men trained to do this it should be fine. So she shouted the one word she knew, "Fus!"

It wasn't that bad, the men only stumbled back, but for some reason, they seemed... well,not shocked, but surprised. The first Greybeard spoke again. "Dragonborn. It is you. Welcome to High Hrothgar. I am Master Argneir, I speak for the Greybeards. And if you truly wish to learn what it means to be Dragonborn, we are here to guide you in that pursuit. You have the inborn gift. But do you have the discipline and temperament to follow the path laid out for you? That remains to be seen."

Merina didn't like the idea of destiny. In fact, she hated the idea, she didn't like the idea of everything she did right wasn't because of how she succeeded,but by cosmic plan. And it made it difficult to blame people for things when there was cosmic destiny. Either way, she didn't like it. But if agreeing, or at least staying silent about it, was what it took to learn what it meant to be Dragonborn (which obviously meant a lot more than she had originally thought, which was basically that it had something to do with emperors, her ancestors, and wasn't that important. She was now obviously wrong on that last one), then that was what it took.

"When you shout you speak in the language of dragons. Thus, your Dragon Blood gives you the inborn ability to learn Words of Power."

Merina was now more confused than she was before. She knew what Dragon Blood was (sort of, from her reading it was kind of synonymous with Dragonborn, but she wasn't sure the history books were entirely accurate anymore. They hadn't mentioned anything about "shouting" or dragon slaying). She supposed that the symbol on that wall, the fus one, had to have been a word of power, and from what Argneir was saying they were probably words in the dragon language. She felt like she would look like an idiot if she asked questions though, so she just nodded.

"All shouts are made up of three words of power. As you master each word, your shout will become progressively stronger."

Okay, now this was starting to make sense. That was good.

"Master Einarth will now teach you "Ro", the second word of unrelenting force."

Merina wasn't entirely sure how he was going to do that, but she was pretty sure it wasn't the usual way. But she followed Master Argneir when he directed her to another old man in grey robes.

The man who she supposed was Einarth simply said the word in the most normal of tones, and suddenly, part of the ground was on fire, in what she supposed was the word.

She so shocked— how did he do that?!— that she wasn't quite listening when Argneir started speaking again. She was most certainly paying attention when a golden light started flowing from Einarth and started to envelop her, just like what had happened with the somehow, again she understood the word. Somehow, she knew it meant balance.

Now even more shocked, in the corner of her mind she heard Argneir say something about testing her new shout. He had her practice a few times to have her get used to using it.

"Impressive. Your thu'um is precise. You show great promise, Dragonborn. We will perform your next trial in the courtyard. Follow Master Borri."

Merina supposed that the one who had started walking towards the large copper colored back doors was Master Borri and followed him.

Both Lydia and Argneir had followed them into the courtyard.

"We will now see how you learn a completely new shout. Master Borri will teach you Wuld, which means whirlwind."

Master Borri did the same thing that Einarth had, simply whispering the word and suddenly it was on the ground in fire.

"You must hear the word within yourself before you can project it into a Thu'um."

And, yet again, somehow, she did.

The two Greybeards had walked towards two poles in front of a metal gate.

"Master Wulfgar will demonstrate the Whirlwind sprint. Then it will be your turn."

One of the Greybeards opened the gate and if Merina had blinked, then she would have missed Master Wolfgar run through the gates at an impossible speed. Just a few days ago she would have thought that impossible. Now she was learning that she shouldn't be so skeptical.

Argneir turned to her. "Now it is your turn. Stand next to me. Master Borri will open the gates. Use your Whirlwind sprint to pass through before it closes."

Merina nodded tentatively and hesitantly stood next Argneir. She took a deep breath. Master Borri shouted a word, "Vex!" and the gates suddenly opened. Merina, although she was still a bit skeptical, shouted the word she had just learned.

And to her surprise, it worked. One moment she had been right next Argneir. The next, she was right on the edge of the mountain, a few pebbles falling off the edge.

"You quick master of a new Thu'um is... astonishing. I'd heard of the abilities of the Dragonborn, but to see it for myself..."

For some reason, Merina felt a bit embarrassed. She didn't know why, she had no reason to be. "I don't know how I do it. I just... do."

"You are now ready for your last trial. Retrieve the horn of Jurgen Windcaller, our founder, from his tomb. Remain true to the Way of the Voice and you will return."

Merina felt he had meant something that he wasn't saying. What she got from that was, go into a tomb, don't die, and use everything in your arsenal.

"Who was Jurgen Windcaller? I mean, besides being your founder."

"He was a great war leader of the ancient Nords, a master of the Voice, or Tongue. After the disaster at Red Mountain, where the Nord army was annihilated, he spent many years pondering the meaning of that terrible defeat. He finally realized that the gods had punished the Nords for their arrogance and blasphemous misuse of the voice. He was the first to realize that the voice should be used for the glory of the gods, _not _the glory of men. His voice eventually overcame all opposition and the way of the voice was born."

Well, she had been right about her misinterpreting his meaning. "If this is the only way to use the voice, why are there only four of you?."

Argneir chuckled. "Five. Our leader, Parthurnax, lives at the top of the Throat of the World."

"When can I meet him?"

"When your Voice can open the path to him."

"Did there use to be more of you? Did something happen?"

Argneir's face darkened. "There used to be a learner. But he betrayed the Way of the Voice. He used it for his own selfish greed and lust for power. He is no longer allowed on High Hrothgar."

Merina didn't want to cause the man distress, he obviously didn't like to talk about this, but his use of the present tense brought up her curiosity. She didn't even have time to filter, she was already speaking, "Who is he?"

Argneir sighed, but he didn't look angry. Just sad. "You would know of him. He is Ulfric Stormcloak."

The leader of the rebellion. Of course! The general had mentioned how Ulfric had misused the Voice at the execution and that was why he had been wearing a gag.

Seeing as the man didn't seem angry and did give any indication that he wanted her to shut up, Merina asked her final question. The one she had been putting off. It would make her sound arrogant if she asked and if she was honest with herself, she didn't want to knew the answer. Not if it was the one that she didn't like. She was finally able to blurt out, "Does the return of the dragons have anything to do with me?"

Argneir's answer wasn't the one she had wanted to hear. "No doubt. The appearance of a Dragonborn at this time is not an accident. Your destiny is surely bound up with the return of the dragons. You should focus on honing your voice and soon the path will be clear."

Merina nodded. She cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable. "Well, I suppose I'll be going. I have to go get that horn and all. But, um, could mark where I'm going on my map, please?"

Argneir obliged, and then she and Lydia went back down the mountain, this time thankfully free of any danger, save falling off. By the time they had gotten back, it was evening. They went to the inn, which was now thriving. The innkeeper spotted them at once and pointed at Merina. "That's her! That's the Dragonborn!"

Everyone put up their drinks in a sort of one sided toast and made cheering noises.

Merina smiled slightly and gave a little wave. "That would be me. Any chance my companion and I could get food and a warm place to sleep?"

The innkeeper seemed jovial, as he said, "But of course! On the house!"

To that, Merina could cheer and do a toast, as soon as she bought a nice drink that she insisted on paying for.

They left in the morning, thanking the innkeeper for his kindness. Then they were off on the road, ready for whatever came at them. Even a dragon.

It was three days later and they had gotten lost.

Of course they had.

They knew the general direction they had to go in. However, there was just one problem. When there were roads, Merina was just fine with navigation. Well, there weren't many to begin with in Skyrim to begin with, especially when you weren't going to a town, and Merina had been taking Hadvar's advice to heart by avoiding the roads that there were. So, instead of taking the short route over the river, going around the mountain, and then through the marsh, they were now facing the mountains.

The ones they had been trying to avoid.

Seeing as it would simply take too long to turn back around, Merina had opted for simply going over a small bit of them, as going around them would also take too long. The new fastest way was by going over one of them. This wasn't actually as bad of an option as it sounded. The one they had to go over was the smallest and they only had to go around the side in a sort of snake shape. They wouldn't have to go too far and it shouldn't be _that _much colder. It wasn't _too _high up, especially as they had just gone up High Hrothgar (and on that note, she really needed a second coat for when she went the mountains. It was _freezing_ up there. Even worse than the rest of Skyrim.)

That was how it had sounded on paper at least. She and Lydia were hiking over said mountain when something they hadn't taken into account, but probably should have thought of, happened. A snowstorm. A big one. A really big one.

In truth, it was a miracle they had gotten as far as they did, they were almost to the top of the mountain, before it hit. Now, the snow was flying everywhere, they could barely see and were putting their arms in front of their faces in an attempt to block it from hitting them. If they wanted to say anything to each other, they had to all but scream over the wind. Merina was chilled to the bone, even with her coat. She couldn't tell if Lydia was as cold as she was, the woman was a stone wall.

She managed to say something above the wind, a mix of snow and ice flying in her throat as she did, making her cough in the middle of her speech, "We need to find shelter or we're going to die out here!"

She thought Lydia nodded, but with everything flying around, it was impossible to tell. She began searching, peering through narrowed eyes, trying desperately to find somewhere— anywhere!— away from the icy wind. Just then Lydia yelled, "Over there!"

She was pointing to, at least it _looked_ like she was pointing, to what appeared to be a cave. Seeing no better option, Merina nodded, and she shouted "Okay!" to make sure that Lydia knew, and they began trudging through the deeply packed snow.

What had at first appeared like a safe haven showed its true colors almost as soon as they walked in. There were two people in the room, a man and a woman. That wouldn't have been so bad, but something about them was... off. There was just something deeply unsettling about them that made her want to run away or fight them off. Mostly fight them off.

They didn't have any time, as at that moment a hound that seemed to be made of pure shadow jumped on Lydia, sinking its fangs (which apparently weren't made of shadow) into her left arm. Lydia's scream alerted the creatures (they might have looked human, but if there was one thing Merina was sure of it was that those things were _not_ human). Before the things could do anything, while the dog was still attached to Lydia's arm, she chopped off its head in one clean stroke.

The things were going up the steps, the male in front. He put up his hand and suddenly, it felt like Merina's life was just being drained drop by drop. Before she was too weak to do anything, in a z-like motion, she cut off the thing's hand and pushed her sword through its throat. She pulled out her sword and kicked the thing in the shin, causing its body to fall down the stairs, which knocked the female down. Before it could get up, Merina had charged down the stairs and cut off the thing's head.

Merina ran up to Lydia, who was sitting scrunched against the cave's wall, looking very small, cradling her injured arm. Merina kneeled down to her level and tenderly picked up the arm, turning it over to look at the bite. She had to hold back a hiss of sympathy, it probably wouldn't be good for Lydia. Lydia wasn't making any noise nor was she moving in any sort of discomfort, but Merina had seen this wound before. This was anything but comfortable.

The wound itself was mercifully nothing too major, it was the black liquid that was seeping through out the arm, pumping through the arteries and veins, that was truly worrying. The thing that bit Lydia had to have been a Death Hound. Which meant the things she had killed had been...

Vampires. And there were probably more of them.

This was bad. This was _really_ bad.

The minor potions she had in her bag weren't going to be enough. She was going to have some of that healing magic she had learned.

This was _really, really_ _bad_.

Merina felt she was at least pretty good at a lot of things. Magic was not one of those things. Healing magic had seemed easy at first, much easier than the other schools of magic.

Oh, how _wrong_ she had been. The actual spells themselves were not impossible endeavors. Rather, the fact was that if she did the slightest thing that wasn't _exactly _perfect, Lydia would never be able to use that arm again.

But she was choosing to not mention that to Lydia. Because if Merina didn't do _something_, Lydia was going to die. Merina had decided years ago that she was only ever going to use healing magic in an emergency. She decided that this counted as one.

Merina took a deep breath and then another, trying to appear calm. She hoped she wasn't completely failing.

"Lydia?"

Lydia looked up, her face tightened with pain. She managed to snap, "What?"

"I—" Merina took another deep breath. She needed to seem calm. If Lydia freaked out, that would only make things worse, "It would help if you'd close your eyes." Then she let out a humorless chuckle, "Don't worry, I'm not amputating."

Lydia did as she asked, squeezing her eyes shut and pursing her lips.

Merina took another deep breath— Gods, she was doing that a lot. She lifted one hand just above the wound while the other hand held the arm up. She kept taking deep breaths, that usually made things not go awfully wrong whenever she attempted magic, and started the spell.

'Don't go wrong, don't go wrong, don't go wrong,' was repeating like a mantra in her thoughts.

She started to see a warm golden glow grow around the wound and some actual hope began to creep into her mind. This might actually work! She had to keep concentrating, not thinking about anything but what she was doing in the moment.

Slowly, but surely, the poison began to drain out of Lydia's wound, the black liquid drizzling off her arm, as it eventually pooled out onto the cave's floor. Merina breathed a sigh of relief that the spell had actually worked and let go of Lydia's arm. She never wanted to do that again. Ever.

Lydia's eyes were still closed, her entire body tense.

"You can open your eyes now. I'm done."

Lydia's eyes popped open and she lifted her arm in front of her face, staring at it in amazement. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. A moment passed and then she spoke slowly, "I did not take you for a healer."

"What? I don't have the looks for it?" Merina said in a light tone.

In all seriousness, Lydia replied, with a slight frown, "That is not what I meant."

Merina waved it away, a slight grin on her face. "Besides, you—" she took a breath, her voice suddenly growing serious, "you saved my life with the dragon," then it was back to jesting, "how could I not return the favor?"

Lydia smiled ever so slightly, "You will have many more to return, my thane."

Merina put her hand over her heart and gasped, "Is that insubordination I hear?"

Lydia scoffed, but Merina could see that the smile was still there.

"Well, my insolent Housecarl, we'll have time to discuss your insubordination later. We can't stay here. Those," at that, Merina pointed to the bodies, "Were vampires. There are probably more of them."

Lydia seemed to understand what she was implying, as she nodded and stated, "We cannot go back into the storm."

Merina offered a sardonic smile, "Then into the house of horrors we go."

They went through a tunnel on the left. The cave was entirely silent, except for the odd scuttling sound and dripping of melting ice. They had both pulled out their swords, no sense in waiting until something was trying to kill them, and were creeping along as quietly as they could, sticking to the walls. By the time they were five feet from the entrance to the passage, the only light came from a torch that Merina was carrying.

The passage was a short one and they soon came into a large cavern. Merina felt the same feeling as she had before in the cave's entrance. Lydia seemed to feel it too.

There was a stream in the middle of the pathway and the two of them walked on its right, almost pressed up against a stone wall. They had almost reached a set of stairs when a skeleton came out of the ground.

Lydia charged at it and cut it in one blow to the skull. Now they saw the vampire, who was now alerted to their presence. Two more skeletons rose from the ground and Lydia went after them. Merina went for the vampire.

It was an easy fight, even with the vampire weakening her, the effect didn't last long after the bloodsucker's death, which came through decapitation via Merina's sword. Merina turned around to see Lydia dealing with the second skeleton, which she quickly killed by cutting it in half. Lydia said something, but it was too quiet for Merina to hear.

They walked through the rest of the cavern, which had light, so Merina had stopped the fire by dumping it in the stream and stuck the now useless wood in her bag, hoping it would dry at some point. The kept walking until they reached a closed gate, which opened when Merina pulled the lever right next to it. This didn't look like a nest. There were no captured humans and it was too isolated to have a ready supply. There was no where to sleep so far. The three vampires they had seen so far looked like guards more than anything else, which didn't make sense if this was a nest. If the vampires were so split up, they had to be doing _something_. And Merina was a bit curious to find out what exactly it was.

Besides, the storm was probably still in full throttle, so they couldn't leave even if they wanted to.

The next room held no vampires, only a chest with some money and arrows that Merina gladly took. Lydia didn't look happy about that.

"Listen, being Dragonborn doesn't exactly pay well at the moment. Unless _you _have any suggestions?"

Lydia didn't, as she stayed silent, but she still didn't look happy.

The room fed out into a small set of stairs, which lead to a narrow room with a vampire and its hound fighting a Draugr. Merina and Lydia stayed by the stairs at the moment, neither wanting to get into a three way fight. Soon enough, the vampire had finished off the Draugr, and started charging at Merina and Lydia.

Lydia went after the vampire, probably not wanting to go after the Death Hound so soon after her injury. That was pretty reasonable to Merina. So, she charged at the dog.

Just as it was about to bite her, she pushed her sword through its upper jaw. She pulled it out, the blade dripping with thick, black blood.

She curled her lip at the putrid smell. 'Disgusting.'

Lydia was still fighting with the vampire, clearly getting worn down by whatever the vampire did to drain people. Merina saw her chance and stabbed the thing in the back.

It let out a horrid scream that made Merina want to cover her ears, but it wasn't dead quite yet. Lydia used her shield and rammed it as hard as she could into the vampire's face. She hit the damn thing so hard, that it fell to the floor with Merina under it, Merina's blade now going through the the thing's chest. Merina pulled it out and pushed the corpse off.

Lydia offered her a hand, which Merina took. When they were both on their feet, Lydia had a smile that looked akin to a smirk. "Well, I suppose now you owe me a favor."

They continued through the crypt, which it obviously was what with all of the bodies. Why were there so many of them? This was hardly the most accessible place. Holy sight, maybe? They once again reached a closed gate, which once again opened when Merina pulled a lever to the right, which once again led to a set of stairs going down.

Naturally, they once again went down them. By this point, Merina thought even Lydia had a bit of curiosity for what was going on.

They set of stairs led to a very small round room with a low and narrow cave path being the only way out and Merina could hear running water. She felt a little nervous, but now was not the time to give up! So she barreled on through.

After a few turns along the path, there was a large cavern with a huge lake in the middle. The sound of the running water came from two waterfalls at opposite ends of the lake. Before Merina could even ask Lydia if they should go through, if the water was too deep and too cold, this could mean real trouble, there were more skeletons.

Of course there were.

Merina charged through the water, which only went to about her knees, destroying the skeletons. She was about to stop when she noticed the vampire. Before the thing could do anything, Merina stabbed it through the stomach and then, just to make sure, cut off its head. No sense in not being thorough. From what Merina had heard, vampires were incredibly durable.

Merina went up a rocky path, with Lydia right behind her, until they reached a set of stairs that this time surprising led up and into another narrow pathway.

The narrow pathway led to another crypt, this one filled with webs. There was a dead spider, but that wasn't important, as there were now two vampires and two Death Hounds charging at Merina and Lydia.

Lovely.

The two vampires charged after Lydia while they sent their dogs after Merina, probably thinking her the easier target. Merina kicked the dog that came at her pretty hard, causing it to fly away from her. Then she pushed her sword through the other's skull.

Her blade was now covered in all sorts of innards, she needed to clean it off, it was getting really disgusting. But for the moment, she didn't have time to think about that as the other dog was charging after her. Before it could bite her, Merina put her sword through its throat.

Lydia was getting backed into a corner, with her sword she was blocking one vampire and with her shield the other. The vampires didn't seem to have noticed that Merina had finished the hounds, so she once again took her chance and stabbed one of the vampires through the back of the chest.

Now that Lydia actually had a chance to use her sword for something besides blocking, she easily killed the vampire, shoving her sword through its nose.

Merina used the vampire's dark armor as a cloth to wipe her sword on. Lydia, looked rather disgusted, but probably saw no other option, did the same.

They continued on, but not before Merina took all the money the things had on them. Lydia didn't look happy, but she wasn't protesting.

They continued on until they reached another cavern with another closed gate. Merina was about to open it until she saw what was inside.

It was another vampire, but this one was even worse than the others. Its presence made her skin crawl tenfold, she felt bile rise to her throat, her heart pump even faster than before. Somehow, this one was worse than the others. The vampire was fighting a giant spider and the vampire was losing.

Lydia was about to pull the lever, but Merina put her hand in front, stopping her. "Wait. Let's just let them finish each other off."

"That's not very honorable."

But she didn't make anymore protests and so, they waited. The spider finished off the vampire pretty quickly, but Merina had no intention of going in there and a fight she could lose. She sheathed her sword and pulled out her bow and an arrow. Carefully aiming, she lossed an arrow right through the bars. It hit the spider in its soft underbelly, killing it almost instantly. Only then, did Merina open the gate.

The only way out was an old, wooden door that Merina thought would crumble under her touch. She opened the door ever so gently and they walked inside quietly, not sure what was on the other side.

Walking through revealed the largest cavern yet. There was a balcony and set of stairs leading down to a lake that had a bridge going over to a stone island in the middle of the lake. Below Merina and Lydia were two vampires and a man who appeared to have been captured.

"I'll never tell you anything, vampire. My oath to Stendarr is stronger than any suffering you could inflict on me."

What were the Vigilants doing in this crypt? They were all over Cyrodiil, but they only hunted Daedra. Merina had never heard of them going after any vampires. Unless this was a lot bigger than Merina had originally thought.

Had she just walked onto something bigger than she could chew?

"I believe you, Vigilant. And I don't think you even know what you've found here." The voice was smooth, but a bit menacing. Merina was not feeling comfortable in the slightest.

And this was definitely bigger than she'd originally thought.

"So go and meet you beloved Stendarr."

Merina heard a cracking sound. That poor man.

Another vampire started speaking. "Are you sure that was wise, Lokil? He might still have told us something. We haven't gotten anywhere ourselves with..."

What was going on?

Lokil started speaking again. "He knew nothing. He served his purpose by leading us to this place. Now it up to us to bring Harkon his prize."

Prize? And Harkon? Merina had never heard of a Daedra named _Harkon_. And besides, what was a Vigilant doing working alone? From what Merina knew of them, they worked in pairs. Merina hadn't seen any Vigilant body in the rest of the cave. This was getting stranger by the minute.

"And we will not return without it. Vingalmo and Orthjolf will make way for me after this."

Well, whatever these bloodsuckers were trying, it couldn't be good. And Merina wasn't going to let them without a fight.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

She threw herself off the balcony, which wasn't too high off the ground, and slammed her sword through Lokil's skull as she fell. The female vampire looked in shock and Merina took advantage of that. Screaming a battle cry, she pulled her sword out the bastard's skull into two hands and used it to chop off the vamp's head, the features still frozen in shock.

They were going to go across the bridge to the stone island in the middle of a lake, but before they found out what the vampires were looking for (Merina was guessing that was where it was, swing as the head vamp seemed to have been here) they had to give the Vigilant a funeral. There was no wood, but Merina still grabbed a torch from the wall. It would be wrong to leave the man's body here, where no one would find it.

Merina didn't know any of Arkay's rights, so she only said, in almost a whisper that echoed across the cave, "May your soul find its way to Sovngarde and rest eternally in the Hall of Valor."

Then, she lowered the torch onto his body.

She and Lydia stood there for a moment, watching the flames consume his body.

"I did not know you were a Nord." That was the softest Merina had ever heard Lydia speak. She almost didn't hear her.

"I'm not." She took a breath, trying to bottle up the turbulent emotions that we're coming to surface. She didn't like to think about that part of her life. "I was born here. Lived here for ten years. My grandfather was a Nord. He taught my father." She took another deep breath, trying to hold back the tears that were forming from just talking about her father. "And he taught me."

She was mostly able to keep from crying, but she let out a tiny sniffle. Lydia looked like she wanted to say something and she moved closer, but then backed away.

"I'm fine," Merina said, almost sharply. Then in a more normal tone of voice, "I'm fine." She managed to pull herself together. "Let's go see whatever those vamps were looking for."

They walked to the stone island in complete silence. There was nothing to say and even if there was, Merina was in no mood to do so.

In the middle of the island there was a podium. Merina walked up to it and saw that it looked like there was a button. Not even thinking, she pressed it.

That was a huge mistake. When she did so, a spike went through her hand. Merina fell to the ground, screaming profanities that would have made a sailor blush. Lydia ran up to Merina, half standing her up, half cradling her. But once the pain faded, her hand was, remarkably, _impossibly_, just fine. Merina held it up in front of her face, twisting and turning it, not really believing that it still worked. Even the wound was just _gone_.

That was when Merina noticed the purple light. It was all around Lydia and her, in circle. They got up. Merina started walking around the island, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. By leaning against one of the braziers, feeling defeated, she found out that they moved, she made an educated guess that she was supposed to move them around. She and Lydia began working by trial and error, pushing the things around until they all emitted the same purple light. When they all did, suddenly, more light came through the the paths and suddenly that light was almost everywhere.

What was more eye catching was the fact that the podium started rising and the smaller, inner circle around it went down making a small, shallow set of stairs. The podium kept rising until it revealed an almost box about the size of Lydia, not including the podium. The purple light was still there, but it had mostly faded.

Merina walked up to the box in confusion. That was when a side came down to reveal a woman in red and black clothing, with some sort of canister on her back. The woman, who seemed asleep, fell out of the box, which, now that Merina had seen that a person was in it, seemed more like a coffin. Merina reacted on instinct kneeling to catch the woman as she fell. Merina stood her up.

The woman was wearing a red corset looking shirt with black pants and a cape. She had shoulder length, black hair, was taller than Merina, but shorter than Lydia, and had a pretty face. When she opened her eyes, they were an amber color. She gave off that same, awful feeling but magnitudes worse than anything before combined. This time, Merina almost threw up. She managed to keep it in and arranged her face into what she hoped was a somewhat pleasant expression.

"Where is... who sent you here?"

Merina narrowed her eyes. "Who were you expecting?"

"I was expecting someone... like me at least."

Merina just asked it point blank, even though she pretty much knew the answer. "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

"Yes."

At least she was honest about it.

Merina's curiosity got the best of her and whatever tact she had disappeared. "Why were you locked away?"

The woman cringed a little. "That's... complicated." She didn't elaborate any further. Instead, she offered, "But if you want to learn the whole story, help me get back to my family's home."

Merina felt her curiosity go into overdrive, but, sadly, she needed to repress it. "Listen, I would," Lydia looked anything but pleased at this statement, "But dragons have come back. I'm rather busy at the moment."

The woman's eyes widened for a moment and then she looked at Merina rather skeptically, "You're Dragonborn?"

Merina nodded.

"I thought you'd be taller."

"Well, we can't all be overgrown giants."

Lydia chimed in at this, "No, some of us just have to be content with being overgrown goblins."

Merina mock glared at this. "I will have you know that I am _much _prettier than a goblin."

The woman looked rather uncomfortable at this, like she'd never seen people banter before. Merina turned to the woman, trying to make her less uncomfortable. "By the way, my name's Merina. That's Lydia my body— Housecarl."

Lydia was back to looking more than displeased (but she did smile at Merina remembering her title). Apparently, she didn't like Merina mentioning her name to mysterious vampires. Under any other circumstances, Merina would have agreed with her, but this one hadn't tried to kill them like all the other ones had. Besides, there was just something that made her trust Serana. Before going to Skyrim and getting into this whole mess she'd never taken stock in the old saying about those with the dragonblood seeing more than other people.

Now she wasn't so sure.

"My name is Serana. Good to meet you."

Merina smiled at this. "Listen, at the moment, we're not able to help you get home. But you're welcome to come with us." Merina saw Lydia out of the corner of her eye. The normally stoic woman of war was struggling to look impassive, but she was clearly distressed by this idea. Merina would talk to her later, to try and convince her. Merina then focused on Serana again, "Any ideas on how to get out of here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. This place looks pretty different from when I was locked away."

There was no way Merina was going all the way back. Besides, she didn't think it was a good idea for Serana to see all the dead vampires. They were pretty weak from the way that she and Lydia had so easily defeated them, so from that comment, Serana probably didn't know them, but still.

That comment had also gotten her even more curious. "How long were you locked away in there?"

Serana seemed a bit sad when she replied, "Good question. Hard to say. I... I can't really tell. I feel like it was a long time. Who is Skyrim's High King?"

This was actually just about the only thing Merina could answer, with confidence, about the civil war. "That's... actually up for debate."

"Oh, wonderful. A war of succession. Good to know the world didn't get boring while I was gone. Who are the contenders?"

Merina tried to sum it up in the quickest way possible that wouldn't make her look like she was a complete idiot who didn't know a thing about what she was talking about. Which was half true, she didn't really know what she was talking about. "So there's kind of— no there is a civil war over that. Ulfric, the Jarl of... Windhelm is on one side, he wants to control Skyrim. But the Empire supports Elisif, the murdered king's widow."

Serana looked utterly confused. "Empire? What... what empire?"

Merina stood there for a few moments, mouth agape, and blinked a few times in utter shock. She managed to get out, "The... Empire. The one in Cyrodiil."

"Cyrodiil's the seat of an Empire? I must have been out longer than I thought. Definitely longer than we planned."

Merina was so shocked that she didn't even register the part about some plan. "Wait? You don't know about the Septims? Tiber Septim founded who the largest empire, took over the entire continent, became a god, Martin Septim, the Oblivion Crisis, the War of the Red Diamond, the Wolf Queen, the Mythic Dawn, all of those Uriels? You know _none of that_?!"

Both Lydia and Serana had the exact same expression of shock at that outburst. It would have been funny had Merina not been so shocked herself and irrationally angry.

"My Thane, calm down. It is hardly her fault if she does not know. Don't take it so personally."

Merina realized she had messed up the act, at least for Lydia. She fumbled for an excuse. "My ancestors, they, um, they worked for Tiber Septim and all the Septim emperors after him. We kind of, uh got attached."

Damn it, she didn't sound confident at all!

Lydia didn't look convinced, but let it go. For the moment. It was Serana who said, rather incredulously, "That General became an emperor?"

Merina managed to calm down, at least outwardly. "Yeah. That dynasty no longer has the throne though. After the Oblivion Crisis— Mehrunes Dagon invaded Tamriel— they lost the throne. The emperor— Martin— was killed. No one was able to unite over the true heir, his widow, well, basically his widow, Aurelia Corvii, and their son. The rest of the dynasty was killed off until Aurelia and her son were the last. Then she was killed, her son went into hiding, and the _usurper_, a Mede, took the throne. The Medes still rule today. It's the 29th of Last Seed in the year 201 of the Fourth Era. I'll get you a history book or something if I can."

Serana looked a little in shock, which was completely understandable, she had about five hundred years to catch up on.

Merina knew that she needed to change the subject, so she said, "Look, there's another bridge that way. It probably leads to an exit."

They went across the bridge, single file, with Merina in front. Everything seemed normal, until Merina had crossed the bridge. She was about to go up the stairs when the previously stone gargoyles turned out to not be made of stone. One of them went at Merina, while the other went for Lydia and Serana.

Merina tried stabbing the thing but to no avail. Her blade simply hit the gargoyle and didn't go through. Merina dropped the sword, it was completely useless. She focused on the amulet, which was hidden under her heavy armor, and began to channel the power of Akatosh. When she began to feel the warm energy against her breastbone, she slammed her fist into the beast's stomach.

The thing smashed into many tiny pieces and Merina didn't even feel the slightest pain. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lydia slam into the other gargoyle with her shield, pushing it in Serana's direction. Serana then used some kind of spell to impale a spike made of ice into the gargoyle's chest.

Lydia turned to Merina and looked down at the gargoyle, or what was left of it anyway. She narrowed her eyes.

"How did you do that?"

Merina nervously waved her question off. Lydia pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest, but didn't say anything else. They continued on going up the set of stairs. The next room they went into housed a couple skeletons and a few Draugr, but it was nothing the three of them couldn't handle.

The antechamber filed out into a large room, about as big as the one they'd found Serana in. It looked like it had once been a forum or perhaps an arena, but that was clearly a long time ago.

This room had more than enough Draugr. There were about four of them, but besides one they were easy enough to defeat. That last one however, took all three of them. Lydia used her shield to block its strikes, Serana was hailing ice spikes at it, and Merina was swinging her sword. She would have used the one shout she knew, but didn't want to hurt Lydia or Serana. But once they had finally gotten a killing blow on the old bag of bones, Merina felt something. The same thing she had felt at Bleak Falls Barrow.

The calling of a word.

It was on a word wall (that was what she had decided to call them) in the back of the room, and just like before, it almost seemed to glow a blue light when she grew close. Lydia and Serana didn't seem to notice it, or even see it at all. And once again, she somehow knew what it meant.

Gaan. Stamina.

Why there would be a shout for stamina, she didn't know. But she took it at face value. They then continued on through an iron door and then another gate. Then, they were out of the caves.

Serana took a deep breath. "It's so good to breathe again!"

She was right. Merina hadn't noticed how thick and dusty the air had been in the crypt until they were out of it.

"Look, the storm's passed." Merina said.

Lydia looked at her, with an emotion Merina couldn't quite place. She hoped Lydia had forgotten her weirdness at the cave. And how she'd defeated the gargoyle. "So it has." Lydia pulled out the map (she had taken it after Merina had gotten them lost), "And it seems that we are even on the correct side of the mountain now."

"See, my lack of directional skills worked out for the best."

"Why don't I handle the directions from now on?"

Merina chuckled a little and handed Lydia the map. "That might be for the best."

Merina turned to Serana. "So, have you thought about my offer? Listen, if you want to go home, that's fine too. We can get you to the nearest town, there'll probably be a carriage there you can hire."

Serana looked at her for a moment, weighing her options. Finally, she said. "I'll go with you. It'll be good to see the world."

Merina smiled, a rare, real smile. "Well then, I suppose we're all off to Ustengrav."

Author's Note: Okay, so I made it so Merina found Serana without joining the Dawnguard because it wouldn't make sense for her to just suddenly forget about the dragon problem to go after vampires. I also changed the location of Serana's crypt for it to fit in the narrative. Where you exit the cave and where you enter are basically switched. Third, vampires don't have orange eyes in this story. How are they able to hide in human society if they do? So basically they give off the uncanny valley effect. The more powerful the vampire, the stronger the effect. But if you're able to stay around them long enough or knew them for a long time before the change, the feeling goes away. I made Serana born sometime I the second era because of her comments about all the city. I doubt one windmill lasts over 1000 years. Even if she wasn't, if her father was planning to take over the world, he would probably keep up on current events. Also, my beta is no longer able to edit this story, so I have to do this on my own. So any mistakes are my own, not their's. I don't own anything and any dialogue you recognize is from the game.


	7. The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller

_"This was day these women began their epic career together. This wasn't there most famous dragon kill, nor was it the most important, but it started a lifelong friendship between the three. After decades of these women being friends, a saying came about. When one of the famous dragonslayers was about, the other two were never far behind."_

_~Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

As it was sundown by the time they had trudged down to the bottom of the mountain, they decided to set up camp there, underneath some trees to at least block some of the wind. It had taken a while to set up shelter, which Serana wasn't much help with, but she was able to help Merina set up a fire, once she was shown how to do it. Lydia had gone off to hunt for some food, they had run out of what Merina had from her bag. Merina had taken her chance to talk to Serana about her eating habits.

Serana was sitting on a log, staring at the fire. Merina tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up.

"What is it?"

Merina shifted from foot for a second, but quickly gained her confidence back. This was something she needed to be firm about. Merina put her hands out in front of her in a peaceful gesture. "Listen, I am completely fine with you traveling with us, with one condition. You can't eat people. You can eat animals— but don't eat people's cattle or stuff like that, we don't want to ruin anyone's livelihood."

To Merina's surprise and relief, Serana nodded. The two of them sat in silence, Merina sometimes getting up to stoke the fire or add few more twigs, but nothing else. It was a comfortable silence.

Lydia came back soon carrying two fish. Merina motioned for Lydia to give them to her. Lydia seemed reluctant though. Rather exasperated and very hungry, she said "Lydia, I'm not going to poison us. I can cook."

At Merina's words and the pointed look that accompanied them, Lydia gave in and begrudgingly handed the food over. Merina had Serana get a stick for her to cook on.

When Merina had everything, she started cooking.

"How can I properly cook a fish out here? I've only got salt. I wish I had seasonings " she muttered as turned the fish over the fire.

Lydia must have heard her, as she raised an eyebrow. "Why isn't salt enough?"

Merina stared at her, disbelieving. "How can you not put seasonings on your fish?"

Lydia didn't say anything, so Merina started her rant. "Without seasonings, there's no flavor, no taste! No spice, no tang! How can you stand to eat it without the spices? How can you eat like this?!" Merina was flailing her arms as she spoke. "That's it. I have to take you to Anvil! You haven't _lived_ until you've had food from the Golden Coast!"

"Thank you, but I think I will keep my Nord food. There is nothing as wonderful as bottle of mead."

Merina made a face. "Ugh, Nord mead? There's no accounting for taste these days."

Merina got back to work. She wasn't as good as the cooks back in Anvil, but she knew their recipes, how they cut it, how they cooked it, so on and so on. Merina did have some salt, so she could make do with that in spite of having no good spices. It was clearly high time Lydia got an education in good food. Nord mead, honestly!

In an hour's time, Merina was done cooking. They didn't have any plates, so they were just going to have eat the fish on the cooking sticks. Merina sat on the log next to Lydia, who was sitting as far away from Serana as possible, looking at her expectantly.

Lydia took a small, hesitant bite. Then another. "This isn't half bad."

Merina's face broke out into a smile. "I _knew _you would like it." Then she sighed. "I miss Brother Darion." When Serana looked at her, confusion evident, Merina added, "The priest who took care of me."

"I thought you said he's your uncle."

Merina gave Lydia a look. "That really isn't the point. Anyways, once for my birthday, he took me to Bravil. It was cold and windy, there were so many people you could barely cram your way through the streets, and everything smelled of fish and salt. I loved it. Even though it was cold." Merina started staring off at the forest wistfully. Without even meaning to, she whispered, "Everything was so simple back then."

Merina managed to break out of memory land and cleared her throat. "We never were able to go back there. I always wanted to. Before I was sixteen, that was the farthest I'd been from Kvatch since I'd moved there."

Merina ate her food, feeling like was far away. She could barely taste the food and without the olive oil, it was a little dry. Still, it was edible and it was hardly like she had the choice of cuisine.

Night was falling quickly, it was a shock, even though it shouldn't have been. It was almost winter. And now that she thought about it, she was almost twenty one. It almost surprised her. In two months, she would be twenty one. Usually, her birthday was something she highly anticipated, even as she got older. It was a little embarrassing, but it was true. Her birthday was the one day where she would get new things. A new book, new clothes, whatever it was, it was _hers_. And new! Sometimes, they would be traveling, especially in later years, but that just made it even better.

This would be the first year that she would spend her birthday alone. Oh, she had Lydia and Serana now, but it wasn't the same. She didn't know Serana that well, but she and Lydia were friends, maybe, but still. It just wouldn't be the same.

She didn't have anymore time to think about that, which was probably for the best, because now the only light came from the fire. They were all in agreement that someone had to take watch.

Serana was first to offer. "I can take the first watch. My eyes see better in the dark."

Lydia crossed her arms and her eyes looked narrowed even in the low light. When she spoke, her voice had a hard edge. "Thank you for the offer, but I will do it."

Serana now crossed her arms. Merina could tell that at least her eyes were narrowed, as they were glowing an orange color in the darkness, but that might just have been the firelight. "What's wrong with me doing it?"

"What is wrong is that—"

Merina stepped in. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she said, "_I'll_ take first watch."

She walked away from the fire, back towards the mountain. When she was away from the fire, she said, "Lydia, can you come over here?"

Lydia stalked over, clearly upset. Merina was about to use whatever diplomacy she had. She took a deep breath. She tried to keep her voice quiet, this wasn't a conversation Serana needed, or probably wanted, to hear. "Lydia, I know you don't like Serana. But could you at least _try _to be polite?"

Lydia seemed incensed at this. She managed to keep quiet, but her tone was angry and her speech fast. "Be polite? She is a _vampire_. She will kill us both in our sleep!"

Merina felt the need to defend Serana, who wasn't there to defend herself. "Listen, I've had Serana promise not to hurt any people. She's not going to kill us."

Lydia scoffed. "Yes, because under no circumstances could something like her _lie_."

Now Merina was angry. "If she wanted to kill us so much, why didn't she do it the moment she got out of that coffin?"

"We do not know why she was locked in there. She could be utterly mad. Perhaps she enjoys getting us to trust her and then killing us."

"Listen Lydia, if you think that way, you can go. I won't keep you here."

Merina didn't mean it in a hurtful way, but though it was difficult to see in the dim light, she could tell that Lydia had taken it that way. Then her face rearranged itself into one of utter determination. In an utterly calm voice, she said, "I cannot. I am your Housecarl. It is my _duty_ to protect you. Even from your own idiotic decisions."

They walked back, in utter animostic silence. Merina wasn't going to back down on this and didn't look like Lydia wouldn't be any different.

Merina's watch was quiet. There weren't even any wolves. Which was a good thing if you asked Merina. Whatever she thought, it was a boring watch. Which really was the best kind of watch. Even if she almost fell asleep a few times. Merina kept track of time by watching the path of the stars. When her three hours finally passed, she woke up Serana. She chose Serana partly for her eyes, Serana really was telling the truth when she said her's were better in the dark, and partly to prove Lydia wrong. And if Merona would admit it, partly to prove herself right.

Sleep came quickly, but it was not a peaceful one. She had dreams, dreams she couldn't understand. They were images, at least she thought they were, but when she woke up, she couldn't remember them. For some reason, they made her sad.

As soon as they had a little breakfast, Serana going into the woods to eat... however she ate, Lydia to get more food, and Merina cooked it. Once Serana returned, they left.

The journey to Ustengrav felt a lot longer than it actually was. Everything was fine while they were going through the forest, a few animals bothered them, but nothing major. The real trouble came when they got to the marsh. Apparently, it was rather infamous in Skyrim.

"You know, if we had gone the way we had intended, we would have had a road to go on."

"Lydia, it is quite out of character for you to be complaining. "

So they kept trucking through the muddy, _disgusting_, smelly water. How anything could live in these conditions, Merina had no idea. She certainly couldn't. She realized that Lydia would see this as Cyrodiilic snobbery, but Merina liked to think of it as having standards. Besides, Serana looked about as happy as Merina did about going through the bog. This probably wasn't the best introduction to the life of adventuring for Serana, but what could they do? In any case, in about half a day's time, they were out of the bog and in front of their destination.

There were a couple of bandits in front of Ustengrav, but it was nothing Merina, Lydia, or Serana couldn't handle alone. Together, it was beyond easy. What was beyond the door was a different story.

There were a bunch of mages, necromancers by the looks of it, and they all heard Merina, Lydia, and Serana come in. The room was filled with pillars, with only a few still standing upright. Merina entrenched behind one of them, shooting arrows at the wizards. She shot down one of the reanimated corpses and then one of the necromancers. Lydia took down one and Serana the other with a well placed dagger strike.

Merina made sure to take all the money off the corpses. A few them were of bandits that looked like they'd been dead at least couple day and they had the horrible stench of rotting flesh. Merina was less affected by the smell since fighting that first dragon and Helgen, but Serana clearly wasn't, as she made a retching sound. They got out of that room as quickly as they could, going along through a hall on the left.

There was another mage and three Draugr. Merina, Lydia, and Serana managed to slip through the door. The mage didn't seem to care about them and was more concerned about the Draugr. Merina grabbed a brazier next to the wall and threw the hot coals at one of the Draugr. While the thing was momentarily distracted, Serana stabbed it in the back. Lydia hit another one with her shield and as it fell stabbed it through the stomach. The mage killed the third one.

Merina turned to the mage and pointed to the exit. The mage looked conflicted, but quickly made up her mind and ran for the exit.

Merina turned to Serana. "That's a good dagger you've got there. Elven right?"

Serana nodded and smiled a little.

They continued on, until they reached a hall. They had only just entered, when three Draugr popped out of their coffins. They were easily defeated, but they were an annoyance. Merina made sure to take their gold as payment.

'I sure am glad I'm not in Morrowind or else I'd be in serious trouble.'

They went up a flight of stairs and across a thin stone bridge. Merina was a bit worried that if there was the slightest wind she would fall off. If there was wind underground anyway.

They went down another flight of stairs and encountered an almost black door with a bag of gold beside it Merina made sure to grab the gold before leading Lydia and Serana through it. This was her job to do as Dragonborn, she would take whatever dangers came first.

They went down a flight of stairs, but before going down the next set, Merina looked out the window, which was about halfway covered with vines and had light coming through it. She let out a breath and, in a voice softer than any tone she normally used, said, "Wow."

She didn't have any other words to describe it. At the bottom there was glittering blue water and above that there were stone bridges everywhere with a thin layer of mist covering them. There wasn't a ceiling and light from above came out in beams. The fact that people were able to construct this... It just blew her mind. She didn't have any time to get lost in the beauty, she had a job to do and she'd lost enough time as it was. So, rather regretfully, she kept going down the stairs and motioned for the others to follow.

There was a Draugr, but it was barely a nuisance. When she cut it down, she simply stopped. This time there were no vines or extreme height blocking her view. It was even more amazing than before. Not only was there the water and the mist, but far below, she could see giant evergreens.

Serana seemed to agree with her, "Are you seeing this? It's fantastic!"

Even Lydia seemed to like it, as she stared down below, with a rather mesmerized expression.

Merina said, quietly, but in a normal tone, "When I came to Skyrim, this is what I came to see." Then she sighed, "Come on. We have a job to do. We'll sightsee later"

They moved away slowly. Like she had said, there would be time for sightseeing later. In the mean time, they had a horn to take.

They continued down the path, trying not to trip over the vines which covered the floor. They were now once again in a hall. And once again, there were more Draugr. Merina ran across another thin bridge and down a set of stairs, not wanting the Draugr to get her in a poor position. Just as she was off the stairs she had to block a strike from an ax, barely stopping it from cleaving through her skull. She used all of her strength to push back the axe and then kicked the Draugr in the shins. When it fell, she stabbed it through its stomach. The blue light faded from its eyes. Merina wouldn't have watched, but Draugr were already dead. She was doing them a favor by sending them back to Sovngarde. From what she had read on her travels, the undead were in constant pain. So she made sure she did it right and made it quick.

She crossed through the rest of the room, which looked to be a dining hall before seeing another Draugr. Lydia took care of that one, running, shield in front of her, slamming it into the thing (which Lydia seemed to favor) and then running it through on her blade.

They quickly ran up the steps and went across yet another bridge. Then they took a left and went down another set of stairs.

'Why can't people keep their treasure right in the front. That would make things so much simpler.'

They reached a room with two coffins and by this point Merina had predicted the pattern. This time, she ran up to the coffin closest to her and before the Draugr could even get out, she stabbed it through the stomach. Before Lydia could do anything, Serana had sent a ice spike at the second Draugr. Merina took money first from the one close to her and then the one Serana had killed. Then they went to the end of the room and the narrow passage that was the only way through.

It lead to a small room with a set of stairs that Merina went up first, only to realize that they just lead to a table. She grabbed the paralysis potion and then went back down the stairs and the next narrow hallway. They were now at the lower levels of the cave, it was misting and Merina could see a lake at the bottom of the cavern. They went across a stone bridge and then down a ramp, which really was just a broken bridge. How old was this tomb and how long had it been since someone had been down this far?

The air was musty and thick. Merina couldn't wait until they were above ground again. Lydia was coughing and Serana, while being a vampire, probably wouldn't be too affected, didn't look very happy.

Lydia's coughing unfortunately alerted a skeleton to their presence. It started coming up the ramp, but Merina cut through its soft skull before it could do anything. She then went up another set of stairs. Once she got to the top, however, she stopped. On every part except the middle of the upper floor just in front of the stairs, there was fire and the middle's flooring was abnormal. On either side there was a skeleton, both of which were mostly on fire, but their arrows were not. Merina carefully pulled those out and added them to her own quiver. She was hunting dragons. She needed all the arrows she could get.

"Be careful, there's a trap just above the stairs."

Merina jumped over it, barely avoiding triggering it. That was when an arrow just missed hitting her, whizzing by her cheek and almost hit Lydia. Merina pulled out her bow and shot at the skeleton, but it just went through the ribs. Lydia ran at the thing and stabbed it with the sword, breaking through the bones. Merina went over to her and picked up her own arrow and pulled the other out of the Draugr.

"Thanks."

"It was nothing."

They through the balcony and when they got to the edge it gave Merina the perfect vantage point to hit the Draugr with an arrow. This time, her arrow went through the skull. They all jumped down, one after the other and went down a path to the lake that had a raging waterfall. Merina had decided that she and Lydia required baths. They had been traveling for almost a week. They needed to get clean.

Before she could do anything, there was once again the call of a word wall. Merina once again walked up to it. She took a few deep breaths, as if breathing in the blue light and the word. And then, she knew. It was Fein. Fade.

Merina turned around. "Well, Lydia, it's time you and I got clean."

The hardest part was getting all the armor off, unclasping the straps and almost peeling it off the skin. Oh yeah, they definitely needed to bathe more often.

The water was cool, but not too cold, and it felt so good to loosen up her hair and get all the gunk and grime off of her. Lydia clearly felt the same way. They had to keep it short, but it felt good to be clean even if it probably wasn't going to last very long.

They then went across a wide stone, but not man made like the others, bridge in the middle of the room. There was a single Draugr defending the new room, but Serana shot an ice spike at it, destroying it instantly.

There were three large stones, that looked rather like the few standing stones Merina had seen. When Lydia and Serana walked by them, nothing happened. But when Merina walked past them, each one opened a gate, if only for a short time. Merina thought about it for a second and then sprinted past the first two stones. When she got near the third she shouted, "Wuld!"

That got her past the gates and this time they stayed open. Lydia and Serana ran through and then they all ran through a narrow set of stairs.

The cavern was huge, with pillars that were leaning down and a unlit brazier on the the ground in the middle of the room. Merina was about to go around it when she noticed the traps. She had stopped so quickly that Lydia and Serana almost ran into her. They managed to nimbly jump around the traps, not staying on one long enough to trigger it and then once they got to a passage staying on the stones and avoiding the panels all together. By the time they had gotten to the spiders, there were no more spiders. Merina and Lydia took the two small ones, but the big one went after Serana. It was on top of her, about to bite her, even with Serana trying to keep it off. Merina and Lydia dashed over and together lifted the spider off and through it on one of the trap panels. It immediately lit on fire and let out a horrible cry.

'Well, it's a good thing we didn't trigger any of those.'

Merina offered a hand out to Serana. She took it and Merina pulled her up.

"You all right?"

Serana nodded. "Thank you."

Merina arched an eyebrow. "What for?"

"You saved me. You could have gotten bitten by that spider. They're poisonous or so I've read."

Lydia interjected at that. "You are traveling with us. We are not about to let you die."

Merina nodded. "Now come on. We've got a horn to steal."

Serana smiled at that, just a little, but it was a real smile, even if it was a little nervous and looked out of practice. Merina wondered how long it had been since Serana had the chance to truly smile at someone.

They had to cut through quite a bit of spider web before they finally reached a wooden door, which opened to reveal a dusty gate. Merina pulled the chain and realized that they had finally reached the main gate. They had only reached the stairs when the ground began to shake. Merina started desperately looking for an exit. This really was the worst place to be during an earthquake.

But it wasn't an earthquake. Instead, four pillars that depicted what looked like bird heads rose out of the water around a stone path. Merina walked along it confidently, eager to finally get her prize.

There was a stone memorial or something similar, with dragon heads at each of the corners. In the middle, the box rose into a hand. But instead, instead of a horn, the horn that was _supposed_ to be there, there was a note.

A note.

A note!

She had gone all this way for. A. Note?!

In a voice of cold fury, she said. "Did we just go through all of that for a note?"

Lydia and Serana looked incredulous.

Whoever had done this had better have a damn good explanation.

Hands shaking in fury, face set into a glare, she finally took the time to actually read the damn thing.

_Dragonborn—_

_I need to speak with you. Urgently._

_Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, and I'll meet you._

—_A friend_

A friend! Hah! Merina almost laughed. If this person was a "friend" they would have just waited at the door! Or just left the note there! Not make Merina, Lydia, and Serana go all this way!

Merina looked around the room, fuming.

"Can you all help me look around?" She said severely. Then she sighed. "Listen I'm sorry. I'm just..." How was she feeling? "Frustrated. But if we look around, we might be able to figure out who did this."

They nodded.

Merina was looking around the room and that was when she saw the Draugr. The fact that there were dead Draugr wasn't important other than the fact that it proved there was another exit someone could get through. It was the way it had been killed. It was through the throat, so it was easy to see. It was a thin cut, much thinner than any regular sword could make. The shape was almost curved. Merina knew of one blade and one style that made that shape of cut.

A Blades agent and Blades' sword. Unless someone was crazy enough to mimic the style from obsession or a desire to be slowly and painfully killed by the Thalmor, this was a Blade.

She had to immediately squash her hope that the agent was her mother. It was highly unlikely, she, the woman's own daughter, hadn't heard from her in years. She didn't like to think of it, but...

No. She felt tears come to her eyes, even as she denied it. She had always denied it, always pushed it away, didn't even think about it. But her mother had been gone for ten long years. No seeing each other, no letters, _nothing_. Merina didn't quite entirely remember what exactly she had looked like. Short, blond hair, eyes like Merina's own. But actual features and personality? She didn't remember. But the thought that she could be...

That she might be...

That she was probably...

Merina couldn't even bring herself to think the last word. Not when it came to her mother.

Merina felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Serana. She didn't say anything, but Lydia did. "Are you all right?"

That was when Merina felt several salty tears rolling down her face. She sniffled and pulled back the mucus into her throat, which was constricting. "I'm—"

She couldn't even get it out. She felt more tears coming down, but she didn't sob. She refused to. She gave herself a few moments before saying in a flat tone, "I'm fine. It's nothing. We should go."

Neither of them looked convinced, but Merina didn't give them a chance to protest as she started walking, pushing the wooden door open as hard as she could and walking through. She began angrily throwing the money she saw into her bag and as soon as she'd gone through the chest in the room, finally slamming it shut. She then walked through the stone passageway and threw open the iron doors. When she got to the end of the passage, she almost pulled the handle off the lever as she opened it. Part of the stone wall opened and Merina almost stomped out of it.

They left in silence, Merina stewing, Lydia and Serana looking worried. Merina remembered the Sleeping Giant, it was an inn she had seen in Riverwood. The three of them decided to go to Morthal, get a carriage ride to Whiterun, and then walk to Riverwood.

By the time they had gotten to Morthal, Merina had calmed down, at least for the most part. Tramping through bogs had surprisingly done wonders for her mood. Even if said bogs smelled _awful_. Once they were in the town, which was the size of Riverwood and was main city of the region, they had even been able to sell the dragon bones for a hefty price. What brought her mood back down was the fact that there were apparently no stables in Morthal.

Wonderful.

So they bought some food, got directions to the closest town that actually had transportation, Solitude, and wasted another day traveling. When they got there very late at night, they didn't even bother going in the city, though they did hear something about an upcoming execution. Instead, they immediately hired the carriage back to Whiterun.

It was a two day, uncomfortable, worrying, crammed journey back to the city. The three of them didn't speak much. Merina was lost in thought, wondering who exactly they were meeting. They had no idea who this person could be. It could be a trap.

It was probably a trap.

In fact, this couldn't be anything but a trap. The only question was whose trap was it.

They were about halfway to Whiterun by the looks of it, when Lydia asked, "My Thane, are you sure this is wise?"

Merina looked at her and then back at the bottom of the cart, for some reason feeling as if she was back in the cart that had taken her to her almost execution. She looked up again, not wanting to think of Helgen. She let out a breath, trying to bring herself back. "No. This is probably one of the worst ideas I've ever had. This is probably a trap." Merina steeled herself, sending all doubts somewhere far away, where they couldn't touch her. "But we _have_ to find out _who _made this trap. And _why_. I— we need to know. If there's someone after me because I'm Dragonborn, we need to know."

Lydia nodded, but she didn't look happy. Merina scooted closer to her and attempted to reassure her. "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to make us go in unarmed. Just, try to be discreet. We don't want to tip this person off. Let them think we're idiots."

Now Lydia seemed to have a bit more faith. They sat in mostly silence for the rest of the drive, just staring out in the distance. When Merina got any sleep, it was once again troubled. She slept for maybe a few hours and each time, she had nightmares. And once again, when she woke up, she couldn't remember anything.

By the time they got back to Whiterun, Merina was groggy, cold, though warmer than she had been since she'd gotten to the Throat of the World, and her back hurt in at least five different places from sleeping on the carriage for two days. She had actually been asleep when they got there, just before dawn actually, and Serana had woken her up while Lydia was looking around.

"What... What are you doing?" Merina's voice was slurred, but she blamed that from having just woken up.

Lydia looked at her, surprise evident. "You are the Dragonborn. We are about to spring a trap. I am making sure that we are not ambushed."

Now that Merina thought about that, it was pretty smart. Merina wasn't sure _who's _trap this was, but her money was originally on the Thalmor. This was skeevy enough to be them, the fact that they were drawing her out, trying to get her in a difficult position, it all sounded like them. There were just two problems with that theory. The first was _where_ they were going. Why bring Merina into a public place. The Thalmor didn't have a good reputation and that was putting it gently. They couldn't get away with this in a public place like an inn.

Then there was the second problem. Why make a Blades agent cut? That didn't make any sense. They had found out her name, but she didn't think that they knew anything else about her. The most they probably knew was that she was in Skyrim, but she how would they now she was going to Ustengrav? So, even though she wanted it to be a Thalmor, just for revenge purposes, she had to admit that it probably wasn't them. Probably.

Her next guess would be an actual Blade. The only problem was that she'd only ever met two Blades. One she was almost completely sure was dead. The other...

She didn't want to consider that.

In fact, she was pretty sure that most of them were dead. She'd heard the rumors. About the Thalmor and what they did to any Blades they found. It just made her hate them more.

Her mind just kept going back to the meeting place itself. _Why_ choose an inn? That was one of the worst places to try and ambush someone. Maybe it was an attempt to act like a friend. Or maybe the offer was real. Merina wasn't sure, but she knew one thing. They weren't going anywhere until they were completely prepared.

She put her boots back on and cracked her back, then her neck. Serana was practicing her deadly ice spells and Lydia was sharpening her sword. Merina checked to make sure that she had enough arrows and that the bowstring wasn't broken. She made sure that all of her armor was on properly, that amulet, at least the stone, was well hidden, and that her sword was nice, clean, and sharp. Now that she had all of that done, she put her hair in a thick, tight braid. It was something she had always done. When she was little, her parents did for her. Once she started living in Kvatch, she started doing it on her own. It had always been a comfort to know that no matter where she went, whatever changed, she always had this little thing.

Lydia seemed to be pleased with the sharpness of her sword and Serana seemed confident with her aim. They made sure they had everything was perfect. Whatever this person was planning, they would stop it. And find out just what this person was doing.

As it turned, Merina and Serana had a bit in common. Serana refused to budge on speaking about her family, which Merina hardly had a right to press on what with her own behavior, and she had spent her entire life experiencing the world through books. Merina could sympathize. The entire time she was in Kvatch, she had only had her books to tell her anything interesting about the world. After Avitus left and until she and Brother Darion started really traveling, there had been almost nothing else to do.

"What did you read, Serana?" Merina asked, wondering what the information was like so far back.

Serana looked like she was lost in time, a nostalgic and perhaps longing expression on her face. "Books on alchemy. And on cities. Places to I wanted to go. Solitude, Windhelm, everywhere."

Merina smiled slightly at that. "So did I. But not nearly as much as I probably should have. There wasn't much on Skyrim in Kvatch. I mostly read law books."

Lydia let out a shocked laugh and raised an eyebrow. "Law books?"

Merina was was laughing too. "The Laws of the Empire, volumes one through ten. Most boring things I ever read. Those hours were torture!"

"You didn't read all those law books." Serana looked suspicious as she said that.

"Ye of little faith!" Merina cried, putting a hand over her heart. "How could I make that up? It was _unimaginable _pain!"

At this Lydia snorted and in a dry tone said, "I am sure that it was, my Thane."

Merina was struggling to hold back a smile, trying to seem serious. "It was! It was all," Merina put on a very snotty tone, "Volume three, chapter four, from the law charter of 281, 3rd Era, section two in the fine print. An Imperial delegation is allowed to bring whomever they see fit, as long as they have not been convicted of crimes such as assault, murder, and petty theft" and so on and sofor another fifteen pages. Do you know how _boring_ that is?"

"So why were you reading it then?" It was Lydia speaking, in that same skeptical tone she had used when Merina had destroyed the gargoyle and spoke so passionately about the Septims. This was exactly why Merina had been wary at first about talking about her life. It just brought too many questions that Merina wasn't ready to answer. But of course, being the idiot that she was, once she started she kept on going and didn't think of the consequences.

"It doesn't matter." She managed to say flippantly.

This time, however, Lydia wasn't deterred. Instead she pushed on. "Yes it does. Why were you reading those law books if you hated them so?"

"Like I said, it doesn't. Matter. So _drop it_, Lydia."

Lydia narrowed her eyes, looking more suspicious than ever, but did as Merina requested. For how long she continue to do so, Merina wasn't entirely sure. Not long though. She was either have to start coming up with good excuses or stop talking about herself.

The road was empty, except for the three of them and before the situation got tense, their voices seemed to have echo across the road. Now, however, in the silence, it seemed quiet. Too quiet. Merina kept her hand on the hilt of her sword. But nothing happened. She didn't take her hand off the sword though.

They arrived in Riverwood no later than nine. The town was just the way Merina had left it, quiet, small, and sleepy. People were working at the mill, Alvor was working at his forge, Dorthe with him. It made her smile, that even though it felt like the whole world had gone mad, somethings were still normal. People still lived their lives. Even with the threat of dragons on the horizon. Something no one had answers for.

For what seemed like the umpteenth, she wondered why. Why had the dragons come back? Why now? Argneir said that it had something to do with her, or at least that they were connected.

Did that make it her fault? Merina hoped that it wasn't. If she could go back in time and stop it, she would. She didn't want dragons in the world. She didn't want people dying. She certainly didn't want the end of the world.

It was like the ultimate punchline, the final joke. One of the very gods they worshiped didn't seem to care that his creations were going to destroy the world. Everyone was going to die. _Everyone _was going to _die_.

_The world eater wakes._

What even _was _the world eater? She couldn't remember hearing or reading about one. And that last line. _The wheel turns upon the last Dragonborn_.

What was that even asking? What did it mean? What did it expect her to _do_? How was one person supposed to stop the _end of the world_? What did that even entail?

Merina didn't know what it meant. Merina didn't know what it was asking. But she knew one thing. There was no way she was getting offed by this "world eater" without a fight. There was no way she was going to make this easy for him. Her. Whatever it was.

But, world eater or no, she had to get some answers. Like whatever this conspiracy was to capture or meet her or whatever it was. She need _some_ answers. So even if this was a stupid decision, she didn't have any other options. She was taking the lesser of two evils. Stay in the dark, but staying safe, at least for the moment, or take the dangerous option that might actually tell her something. It was never in Merina's nature to chose option one and people were dying. Every day she wasted was another one where people got burned alive, children became orphans, people lost the ones they loved. Each lost day meant there could be another Helgen. If this even gave her the _chance_ of stopping that, at least once, then there was no other choice.

They went up the steps of the inn in silence. Merina was twisting her hands, which felt a bit clammy. Maybe this wasn't a good idea or at least worse than she had originally thought. She had no idea what was waiting for her in there. There could be dozens of people just lying in wait. If they had gone to all this trouble to capture a Dragonborn, they probably wouldn't risk their operation by putting one person in to do the capturing. It was now or never though. She didn't have much of a choice at this point. Slowly, she opened the door, Lydia and Serana so close behind her, they were almost stepping on Merina's heels. They walked up to the bar and the man tending it directed them to a small blonde woman.

The woman had grey streaks in her dark, but dull, blond hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and her faces possessed a few wrinkles. Her entire expression showed suspicion. When she looked at Merina, her blue eyes, which were the same color as her dress, were hard. When Merina saw her, Merina recognized her. She was the woman from Dragonsreach, the one who said something about "employers". Merina would have rather put her sword to the woman's throat asked who in Oblivion this woman was working for, but she doubted that would get her the information. Especially in public.

So she kept on walking into this damn trap. With a smile on her face she said, "I'd like to rent the attic room."

Now the woman looked even more suspicious. "Attic room, eh? Well... we don't have an attic room, but you can have the one on the left. Make yourself at home."

Lovely. Well, now this was definitely a trap. Seeing as they had gone this far, Merina wasn't going to leave just yet. But now she didn't know what to do. Merina walked to the room and motioned for Lydia and Serana to follow her. They walked in, at a normal pace as not to attract attention, and Serana closed the door behind them. Whatever they were going to say, none of them wanted whoever was behind this, and Merina was guessing it was innkeeper now, to hear it.

The room contained a dresser and bed against the left wall and a chair and table with a bottle of mead and candle on it against the right. Merina sank into the chair and sighed. She looked up at the ceiling. This had been their only lead. What were they going to do?

Serana clearly didn't, as she asked, "What now?"

Merina sighed again. Seeing no other option, she said, "Now we wait. If someone is waiting for us, they'll show up at some point. I think it's the innkeeper to be honest."

Lydia raised an eyebrow and Serana seemed confused as well, so Merina explained the entire conversation she had heard between Farengar and the innkeeper.

Lydia shook her head. "Farengar may be a wizard, but he is no traitor. He would not willingly act against Whiterun. And he would not work for the Thalmor."

Merina bit her lip. "That's who I thought it was at first, but now I'm not so sure. There was a cut on the Draugr's body, it was a shape I knew. No Thalmor would use their blade like that."

Serana raised a hand and asked, "Forgive me for asking, but who are the Thalmor?"

Merina gave out a humorless chuckle. "That's right, I forgot you wouldn't know about them. They're the rulers of the Aldmeri Dominion, it controls the Summerset Isles, Valenwood, and Elsweyr. They're a bunch of racist, genocidal, mad men. They hate all of humanity and want to conquer the world."

"Conquer the world?" Serana had raised an eyebrow and didn't sound convinced.

Merina nodded. "It's obviously their gpal. Why would they try and take Hammerfell? Wanting Hammerfell was one of the reasons for the Great War, this war that happened thirty years ago It doesn't have that many elves. The reason for that is domination. They want to conquer the world."

Serana obviously thought her a conspiracy theorist, but she let it go. Merina wasn't going to let that go though. Serana needed to know just how awful these people were. But they would have time for that later, they were getting off topic.

They didn't even have the chance to get back on topic, because at that moment, the door swung open to reveal the innkeeper. Lydia was on it, pulling out her sword in a defensive motion. The innkeeper didn't even seem fazed.

"So you're the Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about."

Merina stood up, partly so she could defend herself and partly to try and make sure that this innkeeper realized _Merina _was the Dragonborn. Merina got in front of Lydia, but made sure that her housecarl kept the sword up. "That would be me."

The woman had what Merina presumed to be the horn in her hand. "I think you're looking for this."

Merina snatched it out of the woman's hand. At least she had finally gotten the horn. Strangely enough, the woman didn't seem to be attacking. They had been so sure that this was a trap. Perhaps it was a lure, like the note.

The woman began speaking again. "We need to talk. Follow me."

Merina was a bit suspicious at following this mysterious woman, but more curious than suspicious. Merina needed answers. She motioned for Lydia to put the sword back, but had her keep a hand on it. Best to be cautious. This woman might not be attacking, but that didn't immediately make her trustworthy.

They walked to the other side of the small inn, into a larger bedroom with a double bed, an end table next to it, a large desk with a chair, a table, and a lean wardrobe.

"Close the door."

Once Lydia and Serana were in, Merina did as she asked. But she made sure to have her weapon right near her hand. This woman wasn't exactly gaining trust anytime soon. But there was only one of her and three of them. They could take her.

The woman walked up to the wardrobe and pulled out a key. She unlocked the wardrobe and pushed away the back of it, revealing a set of stairs and room below behind the false back. The set of stairs were thin and the walls nearly touched her shoulders on both sides. Merina was feeling more and more suspicious by the second. When Merina turned around, she saw the Serana had her dagger out.

They had to walk one by one down the narrow passage and Merina was just about fed up by the time they got down.

When they got down there, the woman was standing over a table that had what looked like a map on it. Merina decided now was the time to start asking her questions. She crossed her arms and in a sharp tone, which got angrier as she continued talking, said, "Alright, why in the name of Akatosh have you dragged us along on this wild goose chase?"

The woman looked to face them. "The Greybeards think you're Dragonborn. I hope they're right."

Merina got in an even more defensive stance. She was angrier by the moment and her tone reflected that. "How do you know that and why does it matter to you? And by the way, who even are you? How does an innkeeper immediately know who the Dragonborn is, know where she's going, get there before her, steal what she's looking for, and manage to get back to Riverwood before the Dragonborn even gets to Ustengrav?!"

The woman seemed amused. "Surprised? I guess I'm getting pretty good at my harmless innkeeper act."

"_Act_? Who _are_ you, because you had better have a good reason for dragging me here!"

The woman seemed to be getting annoyed. "I am not your enemy. I've already given you the horn. I'm actually trying to help you. I _just_ need you to hear me out."

Merina pursed her lips. But she had wanted answers, well, here they were. "Fine. I'm listening."

The woman calmed down. "Like I said in my note, I've heard that you might be Dragonborn. I'm part of a group that's been looking for you... well, someone like you, for a very long time. If you really are Dragonborn, that is. Before I tell you any more, I need to make sure I can trust you."

So she was a Blades agent. Merina felt something in the back of her throat and before she realized it, she was talking, in an almost desperate tone. "Did you ever know a Blades agent named Delphine?"

The woman looked stunned. Merina kept talking, her voice fast and almost choked up, "She would have been a little taller, about your height. In her twenties during the Great War. She had blonde hair, like yours, and blues eyes, just like..."

Merina's voice trailed off. No. It wasn't possible. She couldn't get her hopes up.

The woman had an unreadable expression on her face. When she spoke, it was slowly, cautiously. "Why do you want to know?"

Merina squeezed her eyes shut, but when she spoke, she opened them. In a hoarse whisper, she said, "Because... she's my mother."

For a moment the woman stood there like a rock, her mouth slightly gaping, her eyes wide. They moved at the same time,each stepping closer to each other. Suddenly, Merina was enveloped in tight hug. Neither of them cried. Neither of them spoke. There was nothing to say that the other didn't know. She could feel her mother's throat tighten and hear her sigh. Her mother then pulled away, her eyes damp, but still holding on to Merina's arms.

Merina was the first to speak. "Ten years is too long."

"By the gods, you're almost twenty one."

Merina let out a chuckle."Don't worry, you didn't miss much."

That was when Merina realized something. "How did you not realize I was the the Dragonborn?"

Her mother wasn't looking at Merina and when she spoke it was with a softer voice than Merona had ever heard her mother speak in. Sadder than Merina had ever heard her speak. Merina didn't remember exactly how her mother had spoken when Merina was younger, but it wasn't like this. She hadn't been to place how her mother's voice was different, but now she could. It was older. Harsher. And quite a bit sadder. It had none of the lightness, the happiness, the laughter that Merina had placed with her childhood. And, if ever so faintly, the pedestal took a crack at the bottom, barely noticeable. But still there. A crack that could never be fixed.

"I was hoping you were still in Kvatch, where you were safe."

"You couldn't keep me locked away forever." Merina had meant for it to come out lightly. But it didn't. It came out angry and hurt. And the snake was back. Whispering in her mind. And now, even though she knew why her mother had left her, saw that her mother was happy to see her, and knew that being hidden for her protection, it still hurt. It didn't make sense, but it was what it was. No matter how much she denied it, no matter how much she pushed it away. It was the nesting ground of the snake.

And the pedestal took another crack.

The air felt awkward after that. Merina cleared her throat. "Why were you now looking for a Dragonborn?"

"The Blades remember what most people don't. That the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragonslayer. You're the only one that can kill a dragon permanently by devouring its soul."

So that's what she had done with those dragons when she killed them. "_Permanently _kill them? What they're only _mostly_ dead? I thought they were just coming out of hiding."

Her mother shoke her head. "Dragons aren't just coming back, they're coming back to life. They weren't gone somewhere for all these years. They were dead, killed off centuries ago by my predecessors. Now something's happening to bring them back to life. And I need you to help me stop it."

"Mother, I'm not one to question your judgement, but do you know how crazy this all sounds?"

Delphine smiled. "A few years ago I said almost the same thing to a colleague of mine. Well, it turned out he was right and I was wrong."

"So what made you change your mind? What makes you think that dragons are coming back from the dead?" Merina would have asked about the colleague, but they had more pressing concerns.

"I know they are. I visited their ancient burial grounds and found them empty. I've figured out where the next one will come back to life. We're going to go there, and you're going to kill that dragon. I'll explain more later."

"Just tell me everything when the dragon's dead. Where are we headed?"

"Kynesgrove." Her mother pointed to a spot on the map, near Windhelm. "There's an ancient dragon burial near there. If we can get there before it happens, maybe we'll learn how to stop it."

"Well, then it seems we don't have much time. Let's go kill a dragon."

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Once again, I own nothing and any dialogue you recognize isn't mine. The grammar and spelling mistakes are my own.


	8. A Blade in the Dark

_"From the Thalmor we get the most negative opinion of the future empress. While their stories are highly likely to be majorly inflated, that does not mean there cannot be a grain of truth in them."_

_~Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

Her mother had to get on her gear and as she did, Merina was going around the small room. She stopped when she got to a wall. There were three swords on it, but she ignored all but one. It was a long, thin, steel blade. Merina pulled it off the rack.

It fit like a glove in her hand, almost like being reunited with an old friend. She knew exactly how to hold it, how to wield it. It was the sword of a Blades agent and the first blade she'd ever used. Merina had sword fighting using this type of sword. True, it had been shorter to work with a child's height, but she still knew every curve and edge of this thing.

"You can have it if you want."

Merina turned around. Her mother was now in two layers of leather armor, a sword like the one Merina was holding at her side. She had a bow on her back and a set of arrows to go along with it.

Merina smiled a bit. "Thanks. I will."

Merina hung her own sword on the rack and took the Blades' sword and its sheath, attaching it to her belt.

It was mid afternoon by the time they left. Her mother left the inn to Orgnar. Once again, they hired the carriage from Whiterun, this time going to Windhelm.

It was an unusual ride to say the least. Merina was trying to communicate non verbally to her mother that she hadn't mentioned certain things about who Merina was exactly. Lydia was getting more and more suspicious, her questions getting closer to the mark. Serana wasn't asking questions and was even saying that Merina had a right to keep her secrets, but Merina could feel the curiosity seeping off in droves.

"What could be so important that it makes you keep avoiding the subject?"

Merina sent her a withering look. "Lydia you are my housecarl, are you not?"

Lydia's look at Merina matched in intensity. "That I am."

"Then please, learn when someone is _not_ going to answer your question."

Lydia's reply was scathing, even in its simplicity. "As you wish."

Merina put her head in her hands and let out a shaky sigh. Then she looked up. "I'm sorry. That was out of line. Someday I'll tell you— I'll tell both of you." She let out another sigh. "Just not today."

Lydia still seemed curious, but she let it go. Merina, however, didn't. She was pulling both of them into fights with dragons. The least she could do was give them some answers. "It has to do with my ancestors. Let's just say my family's been in hiding for... a very long time. They're the reason that I didn't recognize my mother at first. It's been ten years."

Serana spoke up, "What about your father?"

"I don't want to talk about him."

That closed the conversation.

It was five days until they reached the oldest city of Skyrim. There was no wind and there was barely any snow falling. The sunrise was just coming off of the Veloth Mountains.

"It's quiet. We'll be able to hear the dragon." That was her mother speaking.

Merina replied, "It's too quiet."

It was. There were no birds. No rabbits. No foxes. Not even the howl of the wolf. "I think we might be too late."

At that they all started running toward Kynesgrove.

The town was completely empty. The inn was abandoned, no one was in the fields. They weren't sure where to go, the map didn't give an exact location of the dragon's grave and they couldn't afford to be wrong. That was when a woman ran at them. She spoke, with a frantic, fast voice. "No, you don't want to go up there! A dragon— it's attacking!"

Merina took control of the situation. "Where is the dragon now?"

The woman bit her lip. "It flew over the town and landed on the old dragon burial mound. I don't know what it's doing up there, but I'm not sticking around to find out."

They took off running again. But they were too late. When they got to the burial mound, the dragon was doing... something.

Delphine ran behind a large rock. Merina, Lydia, and Serana did the same.

"Lorkhan's eyes! Look at that big bastard! Keep your head down, let's see what it does. This is worse than I thought."

Merina nodded, not needing any encouragement to stay out of an enormous dragon's way.

The dragon was bigger than anything Merina had ever seen, bigger than the other two dragons she had faced combined. The dragon was a black, while the other dragons seemed to be grey or brown. Its scales were like scythes, its wings were giant, covering the sky in shadow. Something about this dragon was... familiar. She had seen this one before.

Helgen! This was the dragon from Helgen! What was it doing here?

It wasn't like she could ask the thing and her attention was soon diverted. The dragon began to speak. "Slen tiid vo!"

Three words. A shout? But for what? Merina's question was answered when something began to happen. The ground began to shake and suddenly, a skeleton of a dragon came out of the ground. It was like a reversal of when Merina had killed dragons. Instead of scales melting off, scales began to return, encasing the dragon in a golden glow. When the light faded, the dragon was back in the world of the living and looked the part.

How? How was that _possible_?! How could some dragon bring back the dead?! The _dead_! It wasn't possible! No one had ever managed to bring back the dead, not really! Oh sure, people had brought back their corpses, Draugr were enough evidence of that, but they were only a shadow of the person and were sent back to their graves easily enough. A soul could come back, but as a ghost or by possession. Not _actual resurrection_ in which both the body and soul were returned. Over the past few weeks, Merina had been able to take in quite a bit. She could take dragons coming back. She could take that being Dragonborn meant that she had to kill dragons. She could take the fact that she could somehow absorb a dragon's power. But dragons _coming back to life_?! That was too much.

The dragons started speaking to one another in what must have been their language, the larger . The Merina's mother, Lydia, and Serana turned to her, but being Dragonborn didn't mean that Merina immediately had a how to guide to learn the language. She didn't understand a word of it. She only caught two words. Dovahkiin and Alduin. Dovahkiin was the word the Greybeards had used to summon her. It had something to do with being Dragonborn. Alduin...

She'd heard that name somewhere before, but she couldn't remember exactly where or when. Whenever or wherever she'd heard it, it was a long time ago. She didn't remember what it meant. Something bad. Dragon swear word, perhaps?

The black dragon turned to Merina, as if looking right into her very soul with those glowing red eyes, and she felt a chill to her very core. Her own blue grey eyes widened, she swallowed, took a step back, and bumped right into Lydia, almost knocking her over.

"Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi."

Merina didn't understand what it was saying to her. Was it trying to rub in the fact that she, the Dragonborn, didn't know the dragon language?

"You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah."

Merina was frozen in fear. She didn't move a muscle. Her mind didn't seem to be working correctly, the only thing she could think of was the word dovah. From context, she supposed that it meant dragon.

The black dragon turned to the other dragon. "Sahloknir, krii daar joorre."

Then the giant, black dragon flew off. Merina didn't have time to wonder how it brought back the dead or anything else really, because at that the other dragon started attacking them.

The dragon shot fire at them, but as they were behind a rock, it didn't do anything.

'Well, this dragon isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.'

The dragon flew up and went behind them. Just as it was about to breathe fire at them again, they all jumped to the rocks on their right. As the dragon was breathing the fire, it didn't see them.

They managed to find a place that would hide them, at least for the moment. They huddled in a group, they needed to whisper and it wasn't the biggest of hiding places.

Merina was the first to speak. "If we all go at the dragon in its face, we're doomed. It's bigger than us, it breathes fire, and Divines alone know what else it can do. It's huge and those scales are tough."

"So how do we kill it?" Serana said. She was now probably regretting her choice to join them. They should have told her about this in advance. Merina felt guilt seep in. Merina might get her killed because she hadn't adequately explained the situation.

"There are more of us then there are of it. If we all attack at once like wasps, it can't fight us all off."

Lydia nodded. "We split and get you an opening. Then you kill it."

"Exactly."

They did just that, splitting up and each attacking from a different point. Lydia went for the head, using her strong shield to block the dragon's blows. When it tried to burn her, she simply moved out of the way. Merina was staying far away, using her bow. Serana was constantly moving, staying far back and using her magic to attack the dragon. She was spikes of ice and reanimated a wolf that had been lying dead near by. When the wolf started attacking, Delphine moved in, slashing at its sides, the tail, anywhere out of reach of the mouth.

The dragon quickly sank its sharp teeth into the wolf in the throat and then tossed it into the distance. Merina immediately took advantage of the distraction and began racing up at the dragon from behind.

Things didn't go exactly to plan though. Suddenly, the dragon turned around to face Merina, using its tail to throw her mother into the air. Merina wanted to run to her, to make sure that her mother was alright, but she couldn't with the dragon right in her way. Instead, she changed her momentum. Now instead of trying to climb up the beast's back, she stabbed it in the eye.

It gave out a terrifying roar and reared up, Merina's sword going with it, revealing a slight chink in its armor right near where the heart _probably_ was. Merina took her shot. Using her dagger, she stabbed it as hard as she could.

Merina saw a sword flying towards her on her left and she grabbed it by the hilt. The dragon had fallen to the ground, but it wasn't dead. Merina ended its suffering.

The same golden glow happened, enveloping Merina. When it ended, Serana looked shocked, Lydia less so.

Merina wasn't focusing on them though, instead she ran to her mother, who had proper herself against a tree.

"Mother! Are you alright?!"

Her mother pushed herself up against the tree even further, grimacing as she did. "I'm fine, but I think my arm is broken."

"That isn't _fine_! Do you need help getting up, walking you to the Windhelm stables? Do you need a healer?!"

"Merina, it's not my leg that's broken. My arm will be fine in about a month or two. We have more important matters to discuss."

Merina nodded, even though she wanted to continue worrying, and then noticed that Lydia and Serana had moved in closer. Merina turned to Serana. "Did you ever read anything about dragons having the ability to bring back the dead?"

Unfortunately, Serana shook her head. "I'm as in the dark as you are."

Merina sighed. Then her mind went back to the gargantuan black dragon. "I've seen that dragon before. It was the one at Helgen. That was when the dragon attacks started, wasn't it?"

Delphine frowned. "Interesting. Same dragon... Damn it, we're blundering around in the dark here! We need to figure out who's behind it all!"

"So what are we to do?"

Everyone looked at Lydia when she said that and then back at Delphine. "The first thing we need to do is figure out who's behind the dragons. The Thalmor are our best lead."

"Mother, I hate the Thalmor as much as you do and they are powerful, but I don't think they could bring back dragons. So what makes you think it's them?"

"Nothing solid. Yet. But my gut tells me it can't be anybody else. The Empire had captured Ulfric. The war was basically over. Then a dragon attacks, Ulfric escapes, and the war is back on. And now the dragons are attacking everywhere, indiscriminately. Skyrim is weakened, the Empire is weakened. Who else gains from that but the Thalmor?"

Merina nodded. "But how are we going to find out? It's not like we can just waltz into their embassy, asking them to kindly tell us if they brought back dragons."

"We need to get into that embassy. Problem is, that place is locked up tighter than a miser's purse. They could teach me a few things about paranoia..."

"So how are we going to do it?"

"I'm not sure yet. I have a few ideas, but I'll need some time to pull things together... Meet me back in Riverwood in a week. Keep an eye on the sky. This is only going to get worse."

After that, her mother left. Serana was the first to ask the obvious question. "So what are we going to do now?"

"We're going to High Hrothgar. We have a horn to return."

The journey took them three days. Three days of mulling over her mother's words. And wondering just what that big dragon was doing. Somehow, it was different. None of the other dragons were that big and none of them had black scales. Or horrible red eyes.

Merina could still remember the feeling a look from those eyes gave her. It was enough to freeze her in her tracks, make her not able to move a muscle. There wasn't much that scared Merina, and even less fears that she would actually admit. Those eyes, and the creature went with, _terrified _her.

And she didn't even know why.

She was quiet that journey, but even though she was lost in thought most of time, she had noticed a few things. Lydia didn't seem to be hating Serana as much. Lydia might not have happy about her presence, but she wasn't putting up a fuss about the watch anymore. Maybe killing a dragon together had changed things.

The climb to High Hrothgar was more difficult this time, there was more wind and snow and Merina wished there was someway she could get rid of that horrible weather, but thankfully there were no more trolls. Only some wolves and even then it was only one or two. Serana wanted to read all of the stone tablets alongside the path. Merina hadn't done it on the first time up, but this time she did. They were... enlightening.

They spoke of the voice and how originally only dragons had that power. Then it talked about how Kynareth commanded a dragon to show people how to use the Voice. It talked more about Jurgen Windcaller and other stuff that Merina wasn't too interested in, but Serana was. It was like she fed off information.

It was a blessing to finally reach the monastery. They were about to go up the first set of stairs when Merina and Lydia realized they were missing a person.

"Serana? What are you doing just standing there?"

Serana was just staring at High Hrothgar in what was almost awe. "Have you ever seen anything like it? It looks like it's First Era or older. And it's carved right into the mountain."

"You'll love Markarth then. But, come on, we gawk at architecture later. Some of can still freeze out here."

Serana smiled. "Like I'd forgotten."

Argneir was waiting for them. He barely seemed to notice that instead of two people returning to High Hrothgar, a third had been picked up on the way. Merina didn't say anything, she just handed him the horn.

"Ah, you have retrieved the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Well done. You have now passed all the trials. Come with me. It is time for us to recognize you formally as Dragonborn. You are ready to learn the final word of Unrelenting Force, "Dah" which means "Push". "

Merina went into the middle of the room and the Greybeards formed a circle around her, with Argneir in front of her. One of the other Greybeards, Merina thought it might have been Wulfgar, said the word. Once again, the word formed on the stone floor in two fiery symbols. Once again, one of the Greybeards shared his knowledge with her, the power flowing to her in spirals of light as if she were absorbing a dragon soul. Somehow, once again, now Merina understood it. She didn't know how, she just did. Could other people absorb knowledge like this? Somehow, Merina thought not.

Argneir spoke again. "With all three words together, this Shout is much more powerful. Use it wisely."

Then they all began to speak in the dragon language in unison. The ground began to shake. It was all Merina could do to not fall on her face. She thought she heard Lydia and Serana fall, but Merina couldn't even turn around.

"Lingual krosis saraan Strundu'ul, voth mid balaan klov praan nau. Naal Thu'umu, mu ofan nii nu, Dovahkiin, naal suleyk do Shor, ahrk naal suleyk do Atmorasewuth. Meyz nu Ysmir, Dovahsebrom. Dahmaan daar rok."

When the Greybeards finished speaking, the ground finally stopped shaking, but Merina still felt nauseous. She turned around to see Lydia and Serana back on their feet, looking fine, if a bit shaken. Merina finally managed to weakly say, "What was _that_? What did it mean?"

Her unspoken question was, 'Were you trying to _kill_ me?!'

Argneir seemed almost amused. " Ah, I sometime forget that you are not versed in the dragon tongue as we are. This is a rough translation. Long has the Stormcrown languished, with no worthy brow to sit upon. By our breath we bestow it now to you in the name of Kyne, in the name of Shor, and in the name of Atmora of Old. You are Ysmir now, the Dragon of the North. Hearken to it."

Merina no longer felt nauseous, but she felt... overwhelmed. How many Dragonborn had this been told to? She only knew one. Talos. She was receiving the same honor that five hundred years ago had been bestowed on _him_. He was the _only_ one of the _entire dynasty_ to ever get this honor. Until today.

It was difficult to process. She might not have been what anyone called humble, but she hardly put herself on the level of a _god_. There was pride and then there was insanity. She would hardly call her pride a flaw, she merely had confidence in her abilities, but she wasn't insane. But now, she was! Well, not really, this honor hardly made her Tiber Septim, but still! She was like him! She was following in his footsteps! She hoped her expression wasn't one of the insane happiness she felt. No one was staring at her like she was a freak, so she guessed that it wasn't.

They left the next day, it was too late to travel by the time by the time that the three had gotten up to the monastery and besides, there was a snowstorm. Merina liked Serana, but she had learned her lesson from last time. There were many extra rooms in the monastery, so they were all able to sleep in a bed. It was a wonderful feeling to finally get some actual _rest_. Sleeping on the ground or in carts didn't count. For the first time that week, Merina slept easily. No dreams or nightmares that she couldn't remember, no waking up in the middle of the night, just wonderful, beautiful sleep.

Which was of course ruined by Lydia. Lydia was standing over Merina, having just shook her awake.

"What in Oblivion was that for?!" Merina's words were slightly slurred from having just woken up, but she was unfortunately awake enough to sound plenty angry.

Lydia wasn't shaken in the least. "My Thane, if we are to return to Riverwood on time, we must leave now."

Merina looked out the window. "Lydia, the sun hasn't even risen!"

"In case you have forgotten, there is a dragon menace going on outside. Unless your sleep is more important."

The recent events came flying back to Merina and she instantly felt guilty. She nodded to Lydia and said, "Let's go wake up Serana."

Serana was a heavy sleeper, apparently even harder than Merina to wake. Merina at first tried being nice, trying to gently pry the vampire awake, but that didn't work. Finally, she took Lydia's tactic of shaking the woman awake. However, Serana, while hard to wake, wasn't that to irritable. No, what she was irritable over throughout their journey back to Riverwood was not being woken or the difficult living conditions, like always having to sleep in the most uncomfortable places. No, not that. Instead, she happened to be rather of a complainer about the weather.

Oh how she complained about the weather! The weather was admittedly insane in the two days it took them to get back to Riverwood, but by the gods! At first it was understandable, a few complaints here and there about the sun. Perfectly normal for a vampire. Then it started snowing, not too hard, just a little, as they were going down the mountain. Serana complained about that too. A little odd for a vampire to complain about the cold and the fact that the sun was covered, but Merina wasn't exactly in a position to berate someone about their distaste for the cold. Then it started raining and Serana complained about that too. To be honest though, so were Lydia and Merina, so they couldn't blame Serana for that. But the rain finally stopped. However, the clouds stayed. They were wet, it was cold, it was really windy. But at least the rain had stopped. And Serana complained about that too. Merina, who was completely drenched, turned to the taller woman and asked, "Is there any weather you _do _like?"

"I'm an indoor person."

But at least she shut up about the weather.

Merina would have insisted on going to the nearest town to find an inn where they could warm up, but Lydia assured her that they were so close to Riverwood that it wouldn't make sense to stop now. Merina hoped that Lydia was right, otherwise she was going to freeze out there. Merina wondered how that would look on her epitaph. "Last Septim and Dragonborn killed by cold."

It wasn't very dignified.

Lydia was correct however, within the hour, they reached Riverwood. They actually would have been there faster, but Merina decided to drop off some of the things she was carrying back in Breezehome. Embarrassingly enough, she just kind of haphazardly threw them on the floor. But she had an embassy to infiltrate and she could clean it up later. They then rushed into the Sleeping Giant. Merina ran to the fire pit in the middle of the room.

Her mother was waiting for them, back in her blue dress and her harmless innkeeper act, but she now had a sling on her left arm. Delphine waited until they had warmed up, which took some time, before they all discreetly, or as discreetly as four people could, snuck down into the panic room. Merina knew that it probably had a different name, but she called it a panic room. It was hard to find, locked, and underground. It was a panic room to her. They would probably be safe from a dragon attack in that room.

Her mother answered the question that was on everyone's mind. "I've figured how we're going to get someone into the Thalmor Embassy. The Thalmor ambassador, Elenwen, regularly throws parties where the rich and connected cozy up to the Thalmor. Once the person's in the Embassy, they get away and find Elenwen's secret files."

"How is this person supposed to get away from the party— or even get in for that matter?"

"I have a contact in the Embassy. He's not up for this kind of high-risk mission, but he can help you. His name is Malborn. Wood Elf, plenty of reason to hate the Thalmor. You can trust him. As to how you're going to get into the party, there's one in a month. I should be able to get an invitation by then, but I can only get one. Once I do, I'll send word for Malborn to meet you in the Winking Skeever in Solitude— you know it?"

Merina nodded.

"Meet me at the Solitude stables after you've arranged things with Malborn. Any questions?"

"How do you know we can trust this Malborn guy? If the Thalmor catch a _word_ of this..."

Delphine put her hands up in a reassuring gesture. "Don't worry about Malborn. He's not a dangerous character, but he hates the Thalmor at least as much as we do. Like I said, he's a Wood Elf— the Thalmor wiped out his family back in Valenwood in one of those purges we never hear about. Luckily they don't know who he really is or he wouldn't be serving drinks at the Ambassador's parties."

That poor man. Merina couldn't even understand that kind of pain. If she had lost both of her parents...

Merina turned to Serana and Lydia. "So which one of us is going to that party?"

Lydia was the first to answer. "Not me. I am probably the last person you want as your operative in a party."

Lydia was right. She would probably stick out like a sore thumb, looking completely uncomfortable, with ramrod posture, about to go on the attack. This wasn't her operation.

"I'm not a very good choice either. I've had etiquette lessons, but they're about five hundred years out of date. Plus the vampire thing won't make sneaking away easy."

Merina sighed. "I suppose that leaves me. Can't believe I'm actually glad I had those society lessons." She sighed again. "So how am I going to find the office? I can't exactly search the entire embassy."

Her mother gave her a look. "I'll get you a map. You'll also need something something to wear. The only way you'll be able to get past the guards is if they really believe you're an invited guest. Which means you'll need to look the part and not be armed to the teeth."

Merina smiled. "Leave that to me. Believe it or not, I actually had some experience with a needle."

The three spent most of the month hunting dragons, partially because they needed the money, checking back in Riverwood every week or so. As it turned out, being Dragonborn could surprisingly pay well. They had to keep dragging the money back to Breezehome. Most of which they had to spend on a dress. Well, dress fabric. Seeing as she couldn't go in her armor, Merina knew what the fashion was in Cyrodiil (as she told Lydia and Serana, don't ask), and they weren't exactly rolling in money, they decided to make one. One that wouldn't be too hard to get out of, but would still make her pass for a Thalmor toadie.

Merina insisted that they buy red. If she was going to somehow push herself into a tight death trap, she was going to do it in a color she liked. As it turned out, only she and Serana could actually sew. Seeing as Lydia couldn't do that, they had her buy the little pamphlets that showed how to actually put it together.

As it turned out, Merina did most of the work in actually putting the dress together. Serana only ever did embroidery, so Merina left that to her. She had attempted to do it once by sewing a bird, but it just looked awful.

"So, what's been going on in the world since I was locked up? Interesting things, I hope?"

That got Merina blabbing. She just talked and talked and talked. Over the two weeks it took them to assemble all the pieces of the dress and embroider the golden patterns on the red fabric, Merina was at the Oblivion Crisis.

"And then, Martin ran into the Temple of the One, Amulet of Kings in hand. Aurelia followed him, knowing that he was going to do something and trying to stop him. But she was too late! By the time she got there Merhunes Dagon broke through the walls and Martin was in the middle of the temple. Before she could do anything, he smashed the Amulet and turned into a golden dragon."

"A golden dragon?" Skepticism was practically oozing from Serana's voice.

"I'm not making this stuff up! Seriously do you think I have _that _much imagination to make stuff like this up? Anyways, so Martin turned into the avatar of Akatosh—"

"I thought he turned into a dragon."

"Yes! A golden dragon that was the avatar of Akatosh! So Markitosh—"

"_Markitosh_?"

"Sweet Talos, Serana! Let me tell the story! So _Mariktosh_—"

"My Thane, that may be the stupidest name I've ever heard."

"By the Divines! You too, Lydia?" Merina then sighed, but she was smiling. "Fine. Have it your way. Ruin my fun."

"Merina, are you going to tell your story or not?"

"It's not a story! It's actual history!" Merina paused for a moment to thread the needle. "Anyways, so Martin who became Akatosh— there are the two of you happy?— fought with Merhunes Dagon and sent him back to Oblivion. Unfortunately, he turned to stone."

"To stone? As a dragon?"

This time it was Lydia defending the history. "This does sound crazy, but I assure you, it is the truth."

"Well, at least things have been interesting. So what happened after that?"

Merina once again paused to tie off the thread. She had just attached the sleeve to the dress. The entire thing was almost finished.

It was another week before they finished the dress. Everything was finally put together, the embroidery patterns had been painstakingly finished, everything fit just fine, it had been tested to see if Merina would be able to get back in her armor quickly, and they must have spent a small fortune. At least compared to the amount of money they had. But things still weren't done. There was yet more to buy.

"My Thane, I do not understand why you insist on getting these meaningless pins."

"You are the complete opposite of a socialite, Lydia."

"Thank you."

Merina smiled and almost laughed at the image of Lydia as a part of high society.

They finally found what Merina was looking for, a set of ruby hair pins. They were insanely expensive, but once Merina haggled for enough time, she was finally get it down to something reasonable. Merina was also was able to find a nice pair of shoes, so she was able to cross that off the list as well. Then it was off to find makeup. Merina wasn't exactly sure how the three of them were going to make it so that she didn't look like a clown, but if she was doing this, she was going all the way. No sense in botching the mission because she didn't have makeup.

By the time they had finished the dress and gotten everything else they needed, Delphine had managed to get Merina an invitation. A "real one" apparently. Merina was able to borrow one of her mother's dresses, they were about the same size, she couldn't run around Solitude naked. Malborn was going to get her weapons and armor into the Embassy, so she couldn't go in wearing that. She certainly couldn't go in wearing her fancy dress.

It was a quick trip to Solitude by the cart, but Merina was still worried that she would miss the meeting. That would be pretty horrible. She was supposed to be there soon, the party was on the 1st of Frostfall. Gods, was it already almost Frostfall? Things had been happening so quickly she'd lost track of time.

They were on time, thankfully, arriving on the 30th of Hearthfire. A month until her twenty first birthday. The darker part of her mind wondered if she would make it until then. Dragon slaying and break ins weren't what anyone would call a safe job. Merina pushed that part of her mind away. Cowardice wasn't going to help anyone and cowardice wasn't going to stop the dragon problem.

But getting into the Embassy might, so she walked into that tavern as if she were just coming for a drink. She took a deep breath and then another and looked around the room for this "Malborn".

He wasn't hard to find, as he was the only Wood Elf in the room. Well, she thought it was him, she wasn't quite sure. Before doing anything else, she ordered a Blackbriar. She couldn't stomach most meads, but Blackbriar wasn't half bad. According to everyone who had seen her drink, she had expensive tastes. Merina called them standards. Besides, if she was going to die, at least she could have a good drink before. She had no delusions that getting in and out of the Thalmor embassy would be anything close to easy. And either way, they didn't have her usual.

So she bought her expensive mead and casually walked to the table in the back where the elf was sitting.

"Mind if I sit here?"

He looked nervous, he was biting his lip, his leg was kind of vibrating, his eyes were shifting across the room and then going back to look at her, and his arms were crossed, but he nodded. She sat and put her bottle down. She opened it and pored it into the closer of the two cups on the table. As she did, she said in a low voice, "My name is Cassia. I'm from Riverwood, here on business for a mutual friend of ours."

He leaned closer, suspicion clouding his face, which still had more than enough worry. "_You're _who she sent?"

Merina smiled. "I suppose you're Malborn?"

He nodded, a bit shakily. "I hope she knows what she's doing. Here's the deal. I can smuggle some equipment into the Embassy for you. Don't plan on bringing anything else in with you. The Thalmor take security very seriously." He bit his lip, as if just realizing this was the point of no return. "I'm ready to go. Give me what you can't live without, and I'll make sure to get it into the Embassy."

Merina nodded. "All of my stuff is in the one empty room in the inn. It's on the upper floor, you can rent it from the innkeeper. It'll be next to a bag under the bed. Oh and please don't throw the bag away. Just give it back to me once you've smuggled the armor in."

"What so special about a bag?"

"That thing has survived dragon attacks." She didn't mention the fact she no longer had the money to buy a new one. Fashion was pain. Blood, sweat, and tears. And took a lot of money. 'Never again,' she vowed, 'Never again.'

At that moment, she decided to keep the dress. If she ever had to do anything formal again, at least she wouldn't have to dole out another small fortune.

Merina handed him the inn's ten septim fee. He took it quickly, almost grabbing it out of her hand. She couldn't blame him for being nervous. If she was in his position and had a bit more sense, she would probably out of her mind with terror. The Thalmor weren't known for their love, charity, and hugs.

"Okay, I'll get this inside the embassy for you. I've got to go! I'll find you at the party, don't worry!"

With that, he walked off at the fastest pace he could without running.

Merina sat in silence after that, slowly drinking her Blackbriar and him just sitting there. It made no sense to tip off the innkeeper by both of them leaving at the same time. She didn't know who he worked for. She swallowed what was left of her mead and then she too left, headed for the stables.

Her mother, Lydia, and Serana were waiting for her. They waited outside of Solitude like loiterers for the rest of the day, hiding in the stables. Apparently, the stable master was an old friend of her mother's. Close enough for him to risk his life by keeping them away from the Thalmor, even if only for a day. Seeing as they couldn't exactly shove their faces through the entire city just before breaking into an embassy and stealing confidential documents, they stayed secluded in the owner's house.

Merina was telling Delphine all about her life. Her friends, her travels, her escapades, what her life was like in general. She left everything about the amulet out and her mother seemed to have picked up the fact that Merina hadn't exactly told Lydia or Serana about that little secret.

"I was mostly happy."

"Mostly?"

Merina gave her mother a look. "Well, I missed you. I missed Father." Merina looked out the window, not wanting to look at her mother. "I missed home. But besides that, it really was just normal amounts of angst." Then she gave a reassuring smile. "Nothing to worrying about, Mother."

They spent most of the day talking about things like that, staying in the dark, musty barn that smelled of horse and hay. Merina hated hay. It made her sneeze, which was the other thing she did for the entire of the day. She loved horses, but she absolutely hated hay and barns.

The day was long and sleep was hard. It was almost impossible to sleep on the hay. No matter how much she shuffled around, a piece was sticking into her back and everytime she got close to falling asleep, she sneezed and would have to start trying to fall back to sleep all over again. And she couldn't get her mind off her task. Infiltrating the Thalmor embassy. It wasn't what she would call safe. Now that she was about to do it, her confidence was starting to ebb away. Finally, after a couple of hours, she fell asleep.

It felt like the moment she fell asleep, she was being woken up again, even though the others had all let her sleep late. They all had to get ready again, Merina especially. The party started at six and it wasn't like this getting ready stuff was something she could do in an instant.

The stable owner gave them all food at dawn, looking almost as nervous as Malborn had. They all thanked her and Delphine assured her that they would be gone by the next day. He looked a bit less worried with that, but not much. He was taking a big risk. They all were.

For the first time since they had come up with this scheme, Merina felt nervous. Her bravado and lack of worry had completely evaporated now that she actually had to do the deed. Merina felt queasy and when her mother handed her breakfast, Merina shook her head.

"You need to eat," Serana said softly and so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"I'm fine."

Serana looked at her. "I didn't say that you weren't."

Merina turned away, feeling queasier than ever. She tried taking deep breaths, but that didn't work. She tried thinking about something else, but her mind just kept going back to their infiltration plan.

If the Thalmor caught her she would be tortured in ways she couldn't even imagine. They would have her answer what she was looking for and who she worked for. If there was something she didn't want to happen more than getting tortured, it was telling the Thalmor where her mother was.

And it wouldn't even matter, no matter what she revealed. After they got everything they needed, they would kill, no matter what they promised her. Suddenly, Merina felt very small. She didn't want to die.

So maybe she was a little more than nervous.

Infiltrating the Embassy what she was thinking about throughout the entire day. When she bathed, she wondered if they would be able to smell the fact that she was a spy. When she got dressed, she wondered if she and Serana had sewed it wrong. When she put up her hair, she wondered if the Thalmor would be able to tell that the hair was done outside a stable.

Her mother handed Merina a mirror when they were all done. What Merina saw in it surprised her. She didn't look bad. Her hair was done in a classically pinned bun and her makeup was done in a way that made her face look almost pretty. The dress looked unexpectedly nice on her. Merina didn't look a thing like her usual self, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It wasn't that she hated dressing up, far from it. She didn't have a problem with it, though she didn't get a chance to do it very often. She was more than fine with wearing a dress and looking nice, her lifestyle just didn't allow for it very often. She could hardly go around hunting dragons in fancy dresses and heels, though the image was rather amusing.

Merina turned on the boulder she was sitting on to the other three. Smiling, she said, "Thank you,"

Her mother wasn't smiling, she looked as worried as Merina felt. "I guess that will have to do. You should pass for a real guest, at least until you open your mouth."

Merina laughed in an attempt to cover her own worry and reassure her mother. "Ye of little faith." Her laughter quickly died though and in a much more serious tone she said, "Don't worry. I'll be _fine_."

In a move that surprised even herself, Merina hugged her mother. "Don't worry, Mother. I'll be fine."

She felt like there was more to say, but she couldn't find the words.

As she hugged her mother, Merina pressed the amulet, which she had taken off the night before when everyone else was asleep, into Delphine's hand. "Keep it safe," she whispered, even though she didn't need an answer. If there was anyone she would trust with something as important as this, it was her mother.

Her mother squeezed her a little and then let go. In a pained tone, she said, "Good luck."

Merina managed to put a smile on her face that felt more confident than she did. Then she turned to Lydia and Serana. "I hope the two of you will be there when I need a get away."

Lydia and Serana nodded. "We will be waiting a quarter mile from the back of the embassy, my Thane."

At that, Merina gave a last smile, this one a bit shakier than the previous one, and boarded the cart that was waiting for her. Her mother called it a carriage, but it really was a cart.

It was like going to Helgen all over again. Merina was miles and miles away from the now destroyed town, she knew that, but it was still Helgen all over again. She could smell the same trees and feel the same mountain air. She swore there was the same breeze. The closer and closer she got to her destination, the more Helgen returned. It was almost like she could hear the thief— Lokil? No, it was Lokir— speaking about how he could have been halfway to Hammerfell. It was like Ralof was still sitting across from her.

What had ever happened to Ralof? Merina supposed she would have to look into that if she ever got the chance. He seemed like a nice man, even if he did fight for the Stormcloaks.

She didn't have anymore time to think about it. She had already arrived at the embassy. The sun was just starting to set, so she was a bit late. Fashionably late, she supposed. She wrung her hands a little, took a deep breath, and then, with all the confidence she could summon, which wasn't very much, she walked out of the cart.

There was an obviously drunken man outside the embassy and he called out to her. "Ah! A fellow late comer to Elenwen's little soirée. I salute you, ma'am! My lateness is due more to getting lost on the way up this gods forsaken mountain than any desire to actually arrive late. I prefer to arrive early. Often the day before. So as not to miss out on any of the drinking."

Merina glanced at him, but otherwise ignored him. She walked through the snow, which luckily wasn't very deep, until she got to the bottom of the stairs to go up to the embassy. That was when she was stopped by a guard.

For a moment, her heart stopped. But all the guard said was, in that typical snotty Thalmor voice, "Welcome to the Thalmor Embassy. Your invitation, please."

Merina would have sighed from relief, but she couldn't break character. "But of course."

Merina handed him the invitation that she had been tightly clutching in her hand. He looked at it and then back at her. For a moment the terror was back, though she was sure that her expression didn't change. "Thank you, ma'am. Go right in."

She nodded and slightly pulled up her skirts so she could walk up the steps. There were just two small flights and then she was in the embassy. Merina hoped she could pull this off. She took a deep breath and somehow managed to calm herself down, at least a little. There was no way to back out now, the only way was forward. So she walked up the steps, a guard at the door opened it for her.

She walked in, thinking she might actually be able to pull this off and was immediately ambushed by a High Elf woman.

"Welcome. I don't believe we've met. I am Elenwen, the Thalmor Ambassador to Skyrim. And you are...?"

For a moment, Merina was frozen.

She knew that voice.

The voice that made her blood boil. That voice that made her thirst for blood. The voice that had haunted her nightmares since she was a little girl. The voice that caused the worst day of her life.

There was a voice whispering her head. A voice that sounded rather like the large dragon at Kynesgrove. "What is she compared to your? You are Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn of legend. She is nothing, she is a _gnat_. What can she do against someone with the dragonblood, a descendant of Talos. Strike her down! Kill her!"

It took all she had not to give into the dragon like voice. She would have, she would have let the mask slip, to let that monster know of all the pain and grief and misery she had caused Merina. But she held back, the way a dam holds the strongest of rivers. But something held her back. She wasn't sure what it was. Just that if she gave into her internal dragon, somehow she was never going to be able to go back. Once there's a crack in the dam, unless someone can fix it quickly, the river will eventually overtake it. She wanted to listen to the dragon, wanted to give into the bloodlust it inspired. This— this _thing_ deserved it. This was, after all, the monster that had murdered Merina's father.

Author's note: Yes, I know that in canon Elenwen was a torturer. But it's been almost eleven years and she went from torturer to ambassador. With that big of a change, she could have had some career switches within the Thalmor establishment. Once again I own nothing and any dialogue you recognize isn't mine. All mistakes are my own and I hope you enjoy.


	9. Diplomatic Immunity

_"Merina is recorded to have infiltrated the Thalmor embassy at this point, however the records of how and what she did while in there vary dramatically based on the sources. High Elven sources from before the reconquering of Alinor say that it was an absolute massacre and that the future empress murdered all of the guards in the most horrific ways. Imperial sources say that she used a potion of invisibility to get through. Nordic sources do not have many comments, merely saying that she infiltrated and got what she came for, with some adding that she had the power of Talos on her side. Unfortunately, the empress's own words on this from her biography have not survived."_

— _Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

Merina blinked. And then she blinked again. It took her a moment to form thoughts beyond revenge and anger and pain and _hate_. Merina forced an adoring smile on her face. "You're _Elenwen_?! The Thalmor ambassador?! I have _so much_ about you!"

Merina hoped she wasn't overdoing it. The thing didn't react, simply kept the slightly suspicious look on her face. She did seem, however, to look a bit like a smug snake at that. Merina wanted to slap that expression off her face. Well, she wanted to do more than that, but that would have to wait.

'Ten years, Merina. You've waited ten years. You can wait a bit longer.'

The snake smiled. "Have you? All good, I trust. But you have me at a disadvantage. I'm afraid I know nothing about you... Please, tell me more about yourself. What brings you to this— to Skyrim?"

Thankfully, Malborn started talking at that point. He was at the bar, which was a bit behind Elenwen, so until he started speaking, Merina hadn't even realized he was within hearing distance. "Madame Ambassador, I'm so sorry to interrupt..."

Elenwen seemed annoyed. "What is it, Malborn?"

And Malborn seemed nervous. "It's just that we've run out of the Alto wine. Do I have your permission to uncork the Arenthia red..."

Now Elenwen seemed more than a bit annoyed and in a harsh voice said, "Of course. I've told you before not to bother me with such trifles."

Malborn looked down, or at least that was what it looked like from the angle Merina could see him from. "Yes, Madame Ambassador."

Elenwen turned back to Merina. "My apologies. We'll have to get better acquainted later."

Merina put on a small smile and nodded slightly. "But of course."

"Please, enjoy yourself."

The ambassador walked away and as soon as she did, Merina managed to walk over to the bar. She managed not to slump into the seat, which was only a fraction of what she felt like doing. She looked up at Malborn and weakly asked, "One of the Arenthia red?"

If she had to look at that monster one more time, she was going to need more than one drink.

Malborn handed her the wine. "Of course ma'am. The finest Arenthia red!" Then he leaned in bit closer and in a whisper, he said, "You made it in. Good. As soon as you distract the guards, I'll open the door and we can get you on your way. Let's hope we both live through this day."

Make a distraction. Lovely. How was she going to do that? That was when she turned around and saw the drunk man sitting on a bench near her, loudly complaining about not being allowed to drink. A small smile crossed Merina's face. This might be easier than she thought.

After getting two more drinks from Malborn, she had already drank the first, she walked over to the drunk man and sat down next to him. "You were saying something about a drink."

He immediately turned to her and she handed it to him. His face lit up. Merina gave him a moment, but she needed this to work. If he didn't say anything...

The man gave her a wide smile. "Ah, the one generous soul amongst a gathering of pinch pennies and lick spittle! If there is _anything_ I can ever do for you, do not hesitate to call upon me!"

Merina smiled back at him. "Wonderful! I'm actually going to call that in now. Don't worry, it's nothing to big. All I need you to do is cause a bit of... excitement around here. Get everyone's attention for a moment or two."

The man chuckled. "Is that all? My friend, you've come to the right person. You could say that causing a scene is somewhat of a speciality of mine. Stand back and behold my handiwork."

The man smiled at her one more time and walked into the middle of the room. Merina, realizing now was the time to move away, walked back to the bar under the guise of getting another one and quietly set her drink down. Malborn was standing by the door. As soon as everyone, including the Ambassador, was looking at Merina's recently acquired distraction, Merina and Malborn ducked out of the room. Merina hoped they wouldn't hurt the man, but in all likelihood, if he was important enough to actually be invited, he would only be kicked out at worst. Malborn was a different story.

"So far so good. Let's hope nobody us slip out."

Merina raised an eyebrow. "With that speech? I doubt anyone was looking in our direction."

Malborn nodded, but he still looked far more than a bit scared. With good reason, admittedly. "We need to pass through the kitchen. Your gear is hidden in the larder. Just stay close and let me do any talking, got it?"

Merina nodded and he turned towards the the door. "Follow me."

He turned towards the next door and Merina walked after him.

The kitchen smelled so much like the spices in Kvatch that Merina immediately felt homesick. The cook was an Argonian in a dress. Merina was pretty sure that the Argonian was a woman, which was confirmed when she spoke. "Who comes, Malborn? You know I don't like strange smells in my kitchen."

"A guest feeling ill. Leave the poor wretch be."

Merina tried to look pale and sick. It wasn't that hard.

"A guest? In the kitchens? You know this is against the rules..."

"Rules, is it, Tsavani? I didn't realize that eating Moon Sugar was permitted. Perhaps I should ask the Ambassador..."

Malborn had more bite than Merina originally thought.

Tsavani made a hissing noise. "Get out of here. I saw nothing."

Malborn and Merina walked through the kitchens and into what Merina presumed was the larder. As soon as Merina was in, Malborn closed the door. He turned to her. "Your gear is in that chest." He pointed to a chest against one of the walls. "I'll lock the door behind you. Don't screw this up."

Merina supposed that was as close as he could get to "good luck".

"Good luck, Malborn."

He pursed his lips and shakily nodded. Then he turned around, opened the door, and walked out. Merina heard the click of a lock.

'Well, no way but forward now, I suppose.'

Merina went to the chest and opened it. Lying in it was her Legion and steel armor, her Blades' sword, her gauntlets, her boots, her coat, her bows and arrows, her dagger, and the bag. So Malborn did as she asked after all. She supposed that she would have to thank him if she ever got the chance.

Merina quickly got the dress and shoes off and tossed them in the bag. It was easy to take the hairpins out and even though she didn't like the idea of her hair flying in her face, she didn't want to lose a nice (and expensive) set of pins. The armor was easy to put on, now that she knew the shortcuts. She didn't have anytime or any way to braid her hair, so she left that down. She put her sword and dagger on her belt and slung her bows and arrows over her shoulder. Merina took a deep breath. This felt a lot harder now that she didn't have the Amulet of Kings. She'd had it for so long, she didn't know how she would be able to fight without it. For almost eleven years, it had been her backup, her fail safe. Now it was in someone else's care, someone else's control. Even if it was her mother, Merina wasn't comfortable with that. Now she had to go through the Thalmor Embassy, with Divines' knew amount of guards, feeling practically naked. She felt... She felt...

'Get a grip, Merina.'

There was nothing she could do about having or not having the amulet with her, the door was locked, the only way out was forward.

And, well, she had the Voice. She hoped that it was as powerful as everyone said. She cracked her knuckles, took a final deep breath, and walked through the larder to the door. When she got there, she hesitated for a moment, her hand above the handle. Then she steeled herself and opened the door.

The door led to a hallway with a door on the left, which was open. She could hear two men talking from the other room. Merina quietly walked toward the door and crouched right behind it. She hoped no one would slam it in her face.

"Did you see those robes march in this morning? Who're they with? More of the Emissary's treaty enforcers?"

"No. They're high mages, just in from Alinor. I guess Herself is finally getting worried about all the dragon attacks."

Well, this could be worth listening to. Merina stayed hidden behind the door, not moving a muscle.

"Ah, good. I've been wondering how we were supposed to defend this place from a dragon."

"If a dragon does show up, maybe we'll get lucky and it will eat the mages first. Might give us enough time to kill it."

So at the very least, the Thalmor grunts didn't know why the dragons were back.

The man gave a chuckle. "I'd like to see those arrogant bastards taken down a notch. Always looking down their noses at us lowly footsloggers."

Then they both started laughing. They eventually stopped and one of the guards (who Merina had dubbed number one) said, "Well, we'd better get back to our rounds."

Unfortunately, that meant they went into the room Merina was hiding in. The moment they went through the door, Merina came out of hiding, sword in hand. Before either could react, Merina put her sword through one of the two's jugular, which was unprotected by the armor. She barely managed to pull her sword out before having to block a strike from the other guard's sword. Merina was able to hold him back, but she was slipping. This guy was a lot bigger than her, the Altmer were _freakishly_ tall, and, even if she wouldn't admit it to herself, stronger than her. She couldn't use her shout to at least get out of the sword lock, she was sure how far he would go, she admittedly had forgotten to test the shout now that it had three words, and they were way too close to the party for her to Shout.

She eventually fell back onto the ground. The guard clearly didn't expect this, as he began careening forward and Merina was able to roll just out of the way before he and his sword fell on top of her. Before he could get up, or even turn over for that matter, she stabbed him through the back. His body went limp like a rag doll and she pulled her sword out of it. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and looked around the room for anything she could steal. These bastards deserved it.

Sadly, there wasn't anything except for whatever was on the guards' bodies and unfortunately, they didn't have money or anything else she could use except for their armor and weapons. Merina didn't want their swords, she wouldn't trust a Thalmor weapon and besides, she already had a perfectly good one. There was no sense in unnecessarily weighing herself down. For a moment, she considered taking their armor and putting on herself in an attempt to be able to get by the rest of the guards that would inevitably be through the rest of the embassy, but decided against it. She was too short to pass for a Thalmor agent, even from a distance. And she wasn't sure she wanted to pass as one anyway.

She walked into the room the guards had been lazing around in just a few moments before and looked around for anything of use. Nothing but wine, which wasn't very helpful. Merina opened the bag and took out the slightly frayed map within it. Merina didn't know how her mother got a map of the embassy, maybe from Malborn, but Merina was glad that she had it. Apparently, she needed to go through an archway that was across the room from her, which would lead to a hall that would take her to the exit she needed to take to get the a building that was apparently called "Elenwen's Solar".

Merina did just that and luckily for her there were no more guards, not even at the door. That was a mixed blessing. On one hand, she wasn't going to have to make sure that the fight stayed quiet. On the other hand, that meant the rest of the guards were outside. In the mountains. And the cold. And the snow. When it was almost winter.

This was the last time Merina was ever doing an undercover mission this far north.

Letting out a sigh, she took out her coat, which she had stuffed in the bag after putting her armor on. That reminded her, she needed to get some gloves. She could hardly fight with frost bitten fingers. She could probably fit the gloves under her gauntlets.

But she was getting off task and only putting off the inevitable. Sucking in a breath and bracing herself for the cold, Merina silently opened the doors and just as silently walked out.

The doors led out to a stone pathway lightly covered with snow enclosed on the left by a fence and on the right by a very low wall. Merina stuck close to the wall, almost as if she was attached to it, slowly crawled along the kept her from being noticed until there was no more wall and set of stairs she needed to go up. That was when all of the guards noticed her.

There were at least five of them and two of them were mages. They all started running at her, the mages throwing fireballs and lightning at her. Merina did her best to avoid them, but she didn't have anywhere to run. Her hand instinctively reached for the amulet before she remembered that she had given it to her mother.

What was even worse was that reaching for the amulet and then realizing it wasn't there gave the Thalmor all the time they needed to surround her.

Seeing no other option, Merina used the only thing she could to give herself a little space. She hoped the Voice was as powerful as the Greybeards said.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

As it turned out, the Greybeards were masters of the understatement. The Thalmor went flying. All of them went flying over the low wall, with one of the mages cracking his skull against a rock. The other one landed on a snow bank and wasn't moving. The soldiers flew back too, but their armor seemed to have mostly protected them, as after only a moment or so, two of them got up. The third one had landed on the same rock as one of the mages and he too lay dead. A moment or two was all Merina had needed. With the numerical advantage for the Thalmor now dramatically decreased, Merina flung herself at the closest soldier and before she could do anything, Merina hacked off her head. She then pulled up the body and began to use it as a human (or in this case, elven) shield against the archer. Merina started running at him, with the guard's dead body still in front of her. As soon as Merina got close, she tackled the archer, using the corpse to knock him over. Then, she grabbed her dagger and stabbed him through the back of his neck. She quickly grabbed his quiver full of steel arrows. She would have made sure that the mages and the last guard were dead, but she heard more guards, who didn't sound far off at all, so she started running for what she hoped was the Solar.

The Solar, however, was no solace. There were two more Thalmor, a guard and a mage, with a Nord man (at least by the looks of it) who seemed to be an informant. The Nord man sounded like he was arguing with the guard over payment, but they didn't say much before noticing Merina. They all started running at her.

Merina didn't want a repeat of what happened outside, she certainly didn't want to alert more guards. She grabbed a chair that was in front of her and threw it at the mage. He fell on to the floor and didn't move. Merina had bigger things to worry about though. The guard was still running at her, a steel mace in his hand. Merina barely avoided a killing blow by quickly dodging. The guard turned and started to raise his mace for another strike, but he left his chest unguarded by anything but armor. Merina took a chance and, as hard as she could, stabbed him through the stomach. It worked and the guard fell to the floor, dying. The informant was cowering in a corner.

"I'm sorry, but I can't risk you telling the Thalmor what I look like." With that, Merina chopped off his head.

The guard she had stabbed was dead, he had stopped breathing and Merina had checked for a pulse. However, the mage was still alive, even if he was unconscious. She stabbed him through the throat and that was when she noticed the key around his belt. She didn't know where it went, it hardly had a label around, but she wanted to be safe rather than sorry, so she tucked the key into her bag. Merina began to search. There was nothing in the room she entered, so she went to the right and found a doorway. Unfortunately, it wasn't the study, all it had were what Merina thought were alchemic ingredients and some books. Merina took the Slaughterfish scales, the Glow Dust, and a Deathbell or two. Merina was no alchemist, but as it had turned out, Serana was. All throughout their walk through the Morthal bog, Serana had been happily, or happily for Serana at any rate, talking about and gathering the many alchemic ingredients that grew there. Perhaps she could use the ingredients on the shelves. Merina looked at the books, hoping that they might have been what she was looking for, but they weren't. She did grab one of the books, however. _A Dance in Fire_, volume four. Merina had loved that series when she was younger. She put that in the bag, along with ingredients. Then she left the room on the right.

She then went back into the middle of the room she had entered, trying to figure out which way to go. She decided to take the stairs and then she went left into a large bedroom. From the name of the building, she guessed that this was the Ambassador's room. Perhaps Elenwen kept her dragon stuff here. Unfortunately, she didn't. All Merina found was about thirty septims, which she gladly took, and a copy of _Pirate King of the Abecean. _Avitus had loved that book back when they were younger. Merina, not so much. For some reason, pirates never interested her. There was also, creepily enough, a skull in Elenwen's room, that looked at the very least a decade old. It was surrounded by a bit of tundra cotton. Merina didn't want to whose it was or why it was there. It was creepy enough already. So since she had no wish to find out who's was or why it was there, she stayed as far away from it as she could.

The other two rooms held nothing but more money which Merina once again too. Once Merina had gotten back down the stairs, that left only the room on the left. Merina really wished she had taken this one originally, as it would have saved her quite a bit of time. The room was obviously a study.

The Ambassador appeared to be an avid reader, as there were many books on her shelves. Merina almost felt disgusted with herself for enjoying reading now that she knew she shared that trait with her father's killer. Merina searched the shelves for anything related to dragons, but there wasn't anything. Merina did take at least half of the Altmer woman's books. She might have completely despised the woman for killing her father, but Merina had to admit that she had good taste. And besides, it felt like a bit of revenge, even if it was tremendously small. There was nothing on the desk that Merina could use, besides a quill, ink, a sheet of paper, all of which Merina stuffed in her bag. She never knew when she was going to have to write a letter. Or her will. But what really interested Merina was the chest behind the desk.

She was right to be interested. There wasn't much in the chest, only three books and a piece of paper. Merina opened one, only to be shocked on who it was about. It was on her. Well, it was probably on her. The little packet of information was titled: _Unidentified Septim Girl_.

_Status: Active, High Priority, Emissary Level Approval_

_Description: Female. Early to mid twenties. _

_Background: _

_Operational Notes: Unknown if alive or dead. _

There wasn't much, but still it was surprising to find a document on herself. Merina decided to keep that. She then looked at the other two. One was on her mother. What Merina read was surprising, but it really shouldn't have been. Apparently, her mother had killed an entire team of assassins sent after her and the Thalmor thought that it was basically suicide to go after her. That made Merina smile. The third book, however, completely shocked Merina. It was on Ulfric Stormcloak. Merina didn't particularly care about the details, Merina basically knew that stuff, including that he was a Legion veteran, or his status, which was different from Delphine's and Merina's. What really got Merina was the background they had on him. Well, really two sentences. _He was assigned as an asset to the interrogator, who is now First Emissary Elenwen. He was made to believe information obtained during his interrogation was in the capture of the Imperial City (the city had in fact fallen before he had broken) and then allowed to escape_.

Oh, gods. That was... That was horrible. That kind of mental torture. Feeling queasy, Merina took that book. Maybe if she was ever to see Ulfric again, she could give him this. It might ease his conscience. Merina then picked up the piece of paper, the last thing in the chest. It was a letter to the Ambassador. The moment she read, a satisfied grin appeared on Merina's face. She had struck gold. The first sentence revealed that it was exactly what she was looking for. Reading the rest of the letter even gave her an idea of what to do next. Apparently, the Thalmor didn't have a clue on how the dragons were coming back. But they had an idea of who might.

Merina needed to find the torture room. She supposed it was a good thing that she had investigated the rest of the floor. Now she at least knew where it couldn't be.

Merina stuffed the letter into her bag, wanting to be able to show it to her mother. She walked into the middle of the room and found the answer to her question of where to go next. At the back of the room, there was an entryway into another room that held a set of stairs going down. Merina crept down the rickety wooden stairs, took a bit of money stashed in a cupboard, and went to an eerie looking metal door. She quietly pulled on the handle, only to find the door locked. That was when she remembered the key she had picked up. Not seeing any other keys lying about, Merina tried it and, surprisingly enough, it worked. Go figure.

Merina didn't see anyone, but she did hear groaning. She went across a rickety wooden pathway, walking lightly in an attempt to not make the boards creak. She slunk down a flight of stairs and almost ran into a Thalmor soldier. The woman seemed as surprised to see Merina as Merian was to see her, but it was Merina who reacted first. She stabbed the woman through the stomach and then pulled her sword out. She had to dirty her coat to wash the now very bloody sword off. She didn't like having her sword messy.

In the room, there was a bloody rack and three cells. Merina didn't see anyone on the rack, so she checked the cells. Merina checked the first cage and saw a man shackled to the wall inside. She rushed to him.

"I told you, I don't know anything else about it."

How horribly had they tortured him? Merina crouched down. "I'm not a Thalmor agent and I'm not here to torture you. Let me see if I can get these shackles off."

Merina used the key she had used to get in and to her happiness, relief, and surprise, it did.

He fell to the ground and looked up at her. "What— who— what do you want?"

"There isn't time to explain. How about we get out of here?"

He looked stunned. "Yeah, sure, okay."

Merina helped him stand, but after that he seemed to be able to walk.

"Do you have any idea what the Thalmor wanted from you?"

"They grabbed me in Riften. They seem to think I might know something. They just kept asking me the same damn questions."

"What questions?"

"They're after some old guy named Esbern. Something to do with dragons, I gathered it when they thought I was out."

Merina nodded almost absentmindedly and then walked over to look through the second cage, but there was no one in there. There was someone in the third cage though. It was a Bosmer woman, Merina recognized her from someone. She was the serving girl at the party!

"You've got to help me, please!"

Merina didn't know what the woman was locked down here for, but she wasn't going to leave the poor woman. She nodded and used the key to unlock her bindings too. The woman was able to stand on her own, she hadn't been down for very long.

The man she had released showed them a way out, it was apparently where the Thalmor dumped their victims' bodies. Unfortunately, however, it was locked. Merina checked the guard, but she didn't have a key either.

That was when two guards, a male and a female, came into the upper level of the room, one of them dragging in Malborn by his arm. One of the guards shouted to Merina, "Listen up, spy! You're trapped and we have your accomplice. Surrender immediately or you both die!"

Merina smirked. "I don't think so. Wuld!"

With that Merina was at the stairs and she rushed up them, not a moment too soon. She easily took out the guards and luckily, Malborn was unharmed. One of the guards also had a key which Merina hoped was for the garbage shoot. And happily, it was!

'This day keeps getting easier and easier.'

The Thalmor really needed to up security. Not that Merina was complaining.

Merina jumped in first with the other three going on after her. They were all about to jump off ledge they were on to continue going through the cave, but Merina stopped the others before they could. "There's a Frost Troll. See it down there?" Merina pointed to where it was hiding in the shadows. "You three wait up here, I'll kill it."

The three nodded, none of them wanting to take on a Frost Troll without armor. Merina jumped in. Before the Frost Troll could react, Merina jumped on it and stabbed it through the eye and then through the neck.

'Well, that was easy.'

The others jumped down and they all continued through the cave, which was without anything else that was dangerous. When they got out of the cave, Lydia and Serana were waiting on horseback with another horse having an empty saddle.

"My Thane, you brought company."

"Let's just say we all have an equal distaste for the Thalmor." Merina turned to Malborn, the man, and the serving girl. "I'm sorry, I can't help you anymore, I have to go. You'll have to make your own way from here, but if you ever need a place to stay, you're welcome to stay at Breezehome in Whiterun." With that, Merina mounted the third horse and she, Lydia, and Serana road off for Riverwood.

They road at breakneck speed and were able to get back to Whiterun in two days. They brought the horses to the Whiterun Stables, as the stable master promised to bring the horses back to Solitude. Merina also took the chance to drop off all the books she had taken from Elenwen and the Thalmor. No sense in carrying those around. The three then walked the rest of the way to Riverwood. Luckily, it was a nice, sunny, almost warm day.

Serana still complained about the weather.

They met back up with Merina's mother in the panic room. Delphine handed Merina back the amulet when the other two weren't looking and Merina put it back on (again, while Lydia and Serana weren't looking). Her mother seemed relieved to see Merina."You made it out alive at least."

"Did you doubt me?"

Her smiled a bit at that. Then it was back to business. "Did you learn anything useful?"

Merina frowned at that. "Unfortunately, the Thalmor are a dead end. They didn't know anything about the dragons."

"Really? That seems hard to believe. You're sure about that?"

Merina crossed her arms. Maybe it was from lack of sleep, maybe it was from all the work she had done to get through the Thalmor embassy, or maybe it was just natural inclination, but Merina didn't stay quiet when her mother said that. "Yes I'm sure! Which one of us was it risked that risked her life to find this out? I assure you, this is something I'd remember."

Her mother put her hands up. "You're right, you're right. I just... I was sure it was them. If not the Thalmor, who? Or... what?

Merina shrugged, her annoyance evaporating. "I haven't got a clue. But there's someone who might. The Thalmor were interrogating this guy from Riften. They were looking for a man named Esbern. You have any idea who he is?"

Merina's mother looked shocked. Beyond shocked. And thrilled. "Esbern? He's alive?! I thought the Thalmor got him years ago! That crazy old man..." A nostalgic smile appeared on her mother's face. It was... odd.

Delphine continued. "Figures the Thalmor would be on his trail, though, if they were trying to find out what's going on with the dragons."

"What does he know about dragons?" Merina spoke very quickly, barely able to contain herself.

"Esbern was one of the Blades archivists, back before the Thalmor smashed us during the Great War. He knew everything about the ancient dragon lore of the Blades. Obsessed with it, really. Nobody paid much attention back then. I guess he wasn't as crazy as we all thought." Delphine sounded... strange at the end of that. Very sad and something else. Merina would have to ask her about that when she got the chance.

"So the Thalmor think the Blades have something to do with the dragons returning."

Her mother had a sardonic smile on her face. "Ironic, right? The old enemies assume that every calamity must be a plot by the other side... Even so, we've got to find Esbern before they do. He'll know how to stop the dragons if anybody does. Do they know where he is?"

"Like I said, they interrogated a guy from Riften. I'm guessing that's where Esbern is."

"Riften, eh?" For a moment, her mother didn't say anything. Then, "Probably down in the Ratway, then. It's where I'd go. You'd better get to Riften. Talk to Brynjolf. He's... well-connected. A good starting point at least. Oh, and when you find Esbern... if you think I'm paranoid... you may have some trouble getting him to trust you. Just ask him where he was on the 30th of Frostfall." Delphine's voice then grew sad. "He'll know what it means."

Merina nodded and out a hand on her mother's shoulder, the one that wasn't still injured from the dragon fight. Her mother shrugged her off and gave her a weak smile. Merina, Lydia, and Serana left after that for Whiterun to get a cart ride. It was a three day journey to Riften, going around mountains and bogs. Merina hoped that they weren't too late. They got to Riften at about eight in the morning. The three were about to walk through the gate when they were stopped by a guard. Merina looked up. "Is there a problem?"

"Imperial. You need to pay the visitor's tax."

Serana didn't look impressed. "The visitor's tax?"

Merina agreed with her assessment. "This obviously a shakedown. Let us pass."

The guard didn't move. Merina started talking, her voice grew louder and louder as she got angrier and angrier. "This is obviously a shakedown and you are obviously a thief! You will let us in this city, unless you want to feel the wrath of the Dragonborn!"

The guard seemed scared and he pointed to Lydia. "She's the Dragonborn?"

At this Merina got even more furious. "No, you incompetent buffoon, _I _am! Now open that gate or so help me—"

"Alright, alright! Keep your voice down!"

He opened the gate and the three walked through.

"How did he know I'm an Imperial?"

"It is your accent, my Thane."

"Ah."

Now all they had to do was find Brynjolf. After getting some pointers from the townspeople, they found him in the town square. He was standing at on a stand trying to sell some ridiculous potion.

Merina stood in front of Serana and Lydia. "I'm looking for a man named Esbern. I was told you could tell me where he is."

The man looked at her as if she was an idiot. "Expecting free information, eh? Help me deal with business first, then we'll see how I can help you."

Merina took a good look at him. "The guard at the gate was your man, wasn't he?"

Brnjolf smiled. Merina didn't. "Well listen, I'm not going to be your accomplice in whatever crime it is you're obviously trying to commit. Find someone a little more desperate."

With that, they walked away. Serana moved closer to Merina. "Well how are we going to find this Esbern now? Brynjolf was our only lead."

Merina smiled. "Not our only. We know he's in the Ratway. I know where the Ratway starts. We search there."

Lydia and Serana looked at each other. They clearly didn't like this plan, but she doubted they were fans of the crime committing plan either. Well, Lydia wasn't. Merina couldn't tell about Serana. Her expression was too guarded.

"We do not know that he is there, my Thane."

"No, but he probably is. So that's where we start."

For some reason, Merina felt uneasy. She felt like she was being watched. There weren't many people out this morning, just a couple of Nords and Khajiit woman and no one was looking their way, but still, Merina couldn't shake off that feeling. She tried reassuring herself that it was probably just from being in Riften, but she wasn't very successful. Something felt... off.

Serana seemed to feel the same way. "These people seem nervous, which makes me nervous."

They walked through the rest of the city until they got to a set of stairs that led to the lower levels. The lower levels were dark and made of stone and old, rickety wood, with the only sound coming from the scurrying of rats and the light lapping of the lake water. The three of them walked across a thin plank in single file. Then Merina led them to a rusty gate. She opened it and they all walked through an obviously old wooden door, which gave out a loud creak as Merina opened it.

The moment they walked in, Merina remembered her distaste for the place. The Ratway felt oily. The walls, the floors, even the air felt oily. There was light enough, but Merina could hear water dripping. She immediately didn't like this place. "Come on. The sooner we get through here, the sooner we can get out."

Serana was right behind Merina. "Do you even know where we're going?"

"There's a tavern down here, the Ragged Flagon. We might be able to get information there."

"And if we cannot, my Thane?" The unspoken question on Lydia's lips was obviously, "How do you even know about it?" It was a question that Merina didn't want to answer for pride reasons. By the gods, that had been one of the most embarrassing days of her life. She wanted as few people knowing about it as possible.

"Well then I don't know what we're going to do, alright?!"

They continued through the hall until it filed out into a round room. They were about to go through that too when they were attacked by two men, a man wielding a mace and an archer. Serana shot an ice spike through the man with the mace and Lydia immediately put an arrow through the archer before Merina could even react. Merina smiled at them. "Thanks."

Then she went to the archer and took his bow.

"My Thane, what are you doing?"

"I know it's distasteful, but his bow's Orcish and better than mine. He can't use it anymore."

They walked through the round room and then through another room. They went through a walkway and Merina almost fell off a ledge. She hadn't realized that the bridge had been pulled up and Lydia had to grab her arm. "Careful, my Thane."

Merina looked at her. "Thank you, Lydia. And you know, you really can call me by my first name. It's not taboo. You won't be smote by Talos if you just call me by my name."

Lydia gave her a deadpan expression. Merina turned so she could look at both Lydia and Serana. "It looks like this is our only way."

With that, Merina jumped off the ledge.

"Merina!"

"My Thane!"

The other two immediately jumped after her.

"My Thane, do you realize how stupid that was?! If there isn't a way out, we are now trapped!" Lydia was moving her hands as she spoke, which was unusual.

"You didn't have to jump after me."

Lydia gave her a glare.

Serana attempted to mediate. "Listen, there's nothing we can do now. Let's just see where that passage goes."

At that, Serana pointed to a path on the right.

The pathway was short and led to a door with some moss hanging above it. Serana picked some of the moss, apparently it was for alchemy, and Merina opened the door. When she did, she jumped back and barely managed to avoid be impaled by spikes that suddenly came out of the wall.

"I doubt we shall make it out of of this vermin infested sewer alive."

"I thought Serana was the pessimist, Lydia."

The spikes went back into the wall and the three of them slowly walked into the hall that led to another room. The ground was covered in oil, Merina could hear more dripping water, which smelled awful. They quickly moved for the next hallway.

Once again, Merina barely avoided getting injured. In the low light, she didn't see a skeever jumping at her until it was almost too late. She barely dodged it, not even having the time to pull out her sword. Serana, however, did and killed it with a cut from her dagger. Merina opened the door, half blind from the lack of light, and was immediately ambushed by an unarmed man. She merely smacked him upside the head with a blow from her steel gauntlets and he fell to the ground unconscious.

The three of them managed to avoid the bear traps in the room and they opened the gate like door and stalked through yet another passageway. Once they got into the next room, Merina grabbed a torch off the wall. Then they began walking up the flight of stairs in the room. With the torch in hand, they were able to avoid a battering ram trap.

The next room had a hole leading to the city, even though no one could get up without the largest of ladders, and the ground below it had ferns growing and a bloody axe in a tree stump. Merina didn't want to know where that blood came from. It was also misting in the room and as Merina didn't want to get wet, they left quickly.

They walked into the next room (this really was getting repetitive) and before the next lowlife could even raise his mace above his head, Merina stabbed him through the stomach.

The first exit of the room led to the bridge that had been up when they came in. Merina simply pulled the lever next to it to bring it down. But they weren't done in the Ratway yet. The second one led to a set of stairs and then a door below it. The door was locked and Merina couldn't pick it if her life depended on it. So they finally went for option number three, which was a set of stairs and an unlocked door.

The door led them to the tavern they were looking for. The place was practically empty, but there was no mistaking it. This was the Ragged Flagon. There was a lake in the middle and the tavern itself was made of wooden planks and was held over the water by chains. Merina started walking on the right side of the lake. She reached the sign for the tavern, which did indeed say "The Ragged Flagon", where a man was standing. He looked a bit intimidating, but he didn't really threaten her or stop her, so she simply passed him by. She wanted to talk to the man tending the bar.

"Got a lot of nerve nerve coming down here. People tend to get _hurt_ down in the Ratway."

Merina simp,y smiled at him. "I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear you imply something. I'm looking for an old man, hiding out somewhere in the Ratway. Got any ideas of where he could be?"

"Huh. A lot of old guys around. Don't really know how I can help."

"He's a friend of mine. And perhaps this will help your memory." At this, she passed him a bag of money she had been payed for hunting down a dragon. It wasn't a fortune in jewels and septims, but it was hardly penny pinching.

The man smiled. "Well, when you put it that way, I think I do know the guy you're talking about. He's holed up in the Ratway Warrens, hardly ever leaves the place— has someone bring him food and such. Be careful, you're not the only one looking for him."

Merina's eyes widened and she spoke very quickly. "Who else is looking for him?"

"Dangerous looking elves who didn't give their names. Draw your own conclusions."

Merina, Lydia, and Serana all turned to look at each other, all thinking the same thing. They quickly asked the man for directions to the Warrens and then dashed for the door to them.

The Thalmor were already in the Warrens. The only way to go through was guarded by a Thalmor mage. Serana took care of that problem with an ice spike to the throat. Two more soldiers heard the commotion and came running, but Merina and Lydia were waiting with their bows. Two arrows was all it took to take the soldiers out. They ran across the pathway and through a hall into another room, avoiding the trap in their way. There was a body in the room, but they didn't focus on that and just ran for the door and ramp it led to.

The hall wasn't exactly a straight path, it was a winding. There were torches but it was still incredibly dark. At least the dripping sound had gone away. The hall just kept winding and winding until they finally came out into a lower level of the Warrens. Merina could see why someone would hide here. It was almost like a labyrinth. Then they went through another hall, this one better lit and shorter than the other. They practically flew down the flight of stairs.

There was a table and Merina couldn't resist taking the money laid out on it as fast as she could, which was very quickly. Then it was back to running through another hall.

Once they were through the hall, they were at the bottom of the Warren and the only way out was an open gate like door. Had the Thalmor had gotten there first? Or was the door just open? As quickly as they could in their armor, they were running.

The hall was so dark, the torch had gone out, so going through the hall took longer than it should have. They finally stopped running into walls and found the door. The door led to a flight of steps down and it was so quiet and so dark. Merina wouldn't have been able to survive here very long. The next door was locked, but Merina easily picked it. The three of them ran through and then charged up another flight of stairs.

The stairs led to a walkway which led to a door. A door that had at least four locks on it, had a grate for food to be slipped through, and looked different than all the others. Esbern was here. Merina did the only thing she could do. She walked up to the door and knocked.

The grate on the upper part of the door opened to reveal the face of an old man. "Go away!"

Merina stayed right where she was. "You're Esbern, aren't you? Listen, my name is Merina, I'm here to help you. Open the door."

The man didn't appear to be listening to much of what she said. "What? No, that's not me. I'm not Esbern. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Listen, you old friend Delphine, she sent me to find you."

Instead of opening up because her saying that, the man seemed horrified. "Delphine? How do... so you've finally found her and she led you to me. And here I am, caught like a rat in a trap."

"What?! No! Delphine is my _mother_, like I said my name is Merina, I'm the Dragonborn, and—"

At that, Esbern became excited. Well, excited wasn't the right word, more like interested (and finally helpful). "What's that? You're Dragonborn? Then there's hope after all. You'll have to come in. Thalmor agents have been watching the Ratway."

Merina could hear him moving around. "This'll just take a moment..."

Merina kept in a sigh impatience. There was no reason to be rude.

"This one always sticks, there we go."

Merina heard the clink of a few bolts being unlocked.

"Only a couple more."

How many locks did this door have?! There was a pause and then, "There we are!"

The door opened. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home."

The three of them walked in slowly. The room was well lit, with lots of books and storable food. Esbern turned to the three of them after they had all walked in and Lydia had closed the door. "That's better. Now we can talk."

"You... Dragonborn? You're Adaric's daughter?"

Merina took a step back. "How did you know my father?"

"During the Great War, I saw the signs. I knew the dragons were going to return. I asked the Grand Master the Blades look for a Dragonborn. Your father."

"The Blades started looking for my father because they thought dragons were going to return?"

"Well, no. They started looking for him once they realized that the Thalmor were after him. When I heard he had died, I hadn't realized he had any children."

Merina nodded, on the verge of being lost in thought. "Why was it so important to find a Dragonborn? It's not impossible to kill a dragon even if you're not Dragonborn."

"Important? Far more than you realize! If you're Dragonborn, then..."

"Then... what?"

"Then... there is hope after all. For so long all I could do was watch our doom approach, helplessly."

"I would hardly call the return of the dragons doom. Sure, they're trouble, they're a lot of trouble. but they're not our doom."

Originally, Merina had thought that they would bring the end of the world. That was certainly what she thought at Helgen. Now that she had fought the creatures, she wasn't so sure. They weren't invincible. Anyone skilled enough could kill them, even if they couldn't make it permanent.

"Dragons, pah. They can be killed. The Blades killed many in their early days as dragons slaying. No, the dragons are merely the final portent of the End of Days."

Merian was prone to be skeptical at this announcement, but with the utterly serious expression on Esbern's face, she wasn't so sure. "You're— you're talking about the literal end of the world?"

"Oh, yes. The prophecies make clear the signs that will precede the end times. One by one, I have seen them fulfilled. Alduin has returned, just like the prophecy said! The Dragon from the dawn of time, who devours the souls of the dead! No one can escape his hunger, here or in the afterlife. Alduin will devour all things and the world will end. Nothing can stop him!"

If Lydia and Serana hadn't been there to catch her, Merina would have fallen to the ground. Serana stood her back up and Lydia grabbed her the chair by a desk in the back of the room. Merina slunk into the chair, feeling disoriented, nauseated, unaccepting, and oh so very _tired_ all in one moment.

She'd heard the name Alduin before. It was a word that the dragon at Kynesgrove, the one that had been resurrected, had said. In an almost empty voice, she said, "Alduin... That's the name of the dragon that's resurrecting the others, isn't it?"

"Yes! Yes! You know, but you refuse to understand!"

Merina's voice hardened. "Forgive me for not wanting my life to coincide with the end times." Her voice then softened back to a normal tone, which was still rather harsh. "You said something about being without hope until you found out I was Dragonborn. Why?"

"The prophecies are clear. Only a Dragonborn can stop Alduin."

Merina would have said something. Something like, "What?", or "You've got to be joking!" But she couldn't say anything. She couldn't say anything, because she had fainted.

Author's note: Once again, I own nothing and any mistakes are my own. Any dialogue you recognize isn't mine. Thanks for reading. At the moment, I'm having some writers block, so it could be some time before chapter 10 is out. Sorry.


	10. Alduin's Wall

_"Alduin's Wall has been repeatedly described as an architectural masterpiece. For over two thousand years, the structure has stood. It stands as a testament to the skill of the Akaviri, the importance of the knowledge, and the loyalty the history of Sky Haven Temple and its famous temple inspires. It does not hurt that Sky Haven Temple has been used as a fort for the Blades ever since their reinstitution as the guards of the Imperial family."_

—_Life of the Empress Kintyra, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

It was a good thing she had been sitting on that chair or she might have cracked her skull on the floor when she fainted. Seeing as she hadn't, Merina wasn't out for long, only a minute or so. She wished it was longer. She wished that she would wake up home, in Kvatch, with this all being a horrible nightmare. She pulled herself together though, or at least, she attempted to. This wasn't the time to be a coward. Gods, why had she fainted? That was one of the _stupidest _responses she could have had to this situation.

"Wait, didn't you say there's nothing we can do to stop Alduin? Why are you now saying I'm the only one who can do it?" Merina was hoping that something had come out wrong. That really Esbern meant to say that the world wasn't ending and that Alduin could be killed by anyone. That she certainly wasn't the only way to stop Armageddon, it was ridiculous to think that. One person couldn't stop the end of time.

"I'm sorry, I've lived without hope for so long. I forget myself. We must go, quickly now. Take me to Delphine. There is much we have to discuss."

Apparently he said exactly what he meant to. Merina's heart sank. It was foolish to hope that he had said it wrong, but she had hoped anyway. Somehow that almost made it worse. But this really couldn't get any worse.

Esbern began to search around his room for things he needed, something about an Anuad and getting rid of evidence the Thalmor. Merina stayed in her chair for a good long while before she was able to get herself back up. She got a few things for Esbern, but mostly stayed still.

Esbern cleared his throat. "Well, I guess that's good enough... Let's be off."

Merina nodded and they all left the small room. She just wanted to be out of there. Put her mind to the next task, step one, step two, that sort of thing. She didn't want to have anytime to think about this world ending business.

They went out of the room, back down the stairs, back through the larger room, back up the other set of stairs, and back through the door. Back into that slimy Ratway, the haven of thieves and brigands. And Esbern apparently.

It wasn't long before they found the Thalmor, the four of them had barely gone through the door. The moment Merina got insight of them, one of them shouted, "There's the Blades' agent! Kill her!"

They apparently thought she was a Blade. Well, she did use the sword. And worked with her mother, a Blades' agent. And then went searching for another one. She could see why the Thalmor would get that impression.

However, Merina wasn't going to give them what they wanted. She quite enjoyed living, thank you very much.

The Thalmor who had spotted her was a wizard. A quick arrow strike from Lydia was all it took to silence him, but there was going to be more. The Thalmor, had after all, shouted to whoever else was with him. There was going to be more. Lovely. She hoped Esbern could fight.

That, as it turned out, wasn't a problem. While Lydia and Merina fought with weapons, Esbern used magic. And by magic, Merina meant fireballs and atronachs. She needed to learn how to do that.

They kept running through the halls that felt more and more like a labyrinth, what with the length and the darkness. Finally, they got back the Ragged Flagon, but didn't even pause for a moment to catch their breath, though they did sheath their weapons as the sped on out. Esbern was a man of surprising stamina.

Merina, Serana, and Lydia ran for the bridge, with Esbern following them. Just before leaving the Ratway however, Merina motioned for Lydia and Serana to take out their weapons. They were traveling with what amounted a fugitive by the Thalmor, they had been caught by the Thalmor, and Merina hadn't forgotten that feeling of being watched. It still hadn't quite gone away and none of them knew exactly how many other Thalmor were out there in Riften. How had they even got in a Stormcloak controlled city when the Stormcloaks hated the Thalmor?

Merina was right to be wary. They had only gotten to the town square, walking at a fast pace, when they were attacked by a Khajiit in a dress. Well, less that they were attacked and more like Merina was attacked. One quick swing on Merina's sword was all it took, but that didn't answer the question of why she had attacked them.

That was where Merina's grave robbing and bandit killing skills came in. Whenever she killed bandits or draugr, she took their septims (hey, she had to make money somehow, dragon slaying events, while well paying, took a very long time to track down and kill. And didn't always pay. She did what amounted to tomb robbing on the side). Now that skill came in handy. Just a moment of searching was all it took for Merina to hide an ill concealed note.

The note was from the Thalmor, specifically Elenwen. Well, probably Elenwen, who else would "E" in the organization stand for? Apparently, the Thalmor knew that she was coming and had arranged for her to be killed.

Merina should expected this, really. It made sense.

They took a carriage ride from the city's stables and Merina paid the driver a little extra to get them to Whiterun as quickly as he could. She would have paid him to take them all the way to Riverwood, but that would cause too much of a scene.

In a day's time they were back in Riverwood. It was early, far too early for decent people to be awake. Half of Merina was still asleep.

"So this is where Delphine has been hiding all these years?" Esbern made an almost puzzled sound.

"That out of character for her?"

Esbern didn't answer and they just continued on to the inn.

The Sleeping Giant's entryway was empty, except for Delphine. The moment that Merina's mother saw Esbern, she froze. Esbern did the same. He was the first to speak. "Delphine, I... it's good to see you. It's been... a long time."

Delphine smiled, one that almost seemed happy. "It's good to see you too, Esbern. It's been too long, old friend. Too long." There was a puzzling expression on Delphine's face and Merina looked at the ground. She felt like she shouldn't be seeing this, like it was something her mother wouldn't want her to see. Like part of an entirely different lifetime.

Merina had never really asked about her mother's past before she met Merina's father. She'd never asked about her friends, her family, what she even did in the twenty or so years of her life before she ever met him. Then again, Delphine had never mentioned it. It was almost like it had never existed. Merina supposed she would have to ask when she got the chance.

When she got the chance. These days, it felt like that was never going to happen. Like things kept spiraling down the rabbit hole, further and further. Where did the rabbit hole end and when would she reach the bottom?

When Alduin was gone. At least, that was what she told herself. Part of her wondered if something like Alduin could be killed.

Merina felt a gentle tug on the sleeve of the shirt she wore under her armor. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that apparently, she was supposed to be walking with the others to the panic room.

It was a tight squeeze down the stairs and they all went single file. Once they had all gotten into the larger part of the room, Merina leaning against the wall near the stairs, Lydia standing on the stairs a bit behind her as a self decided guard, Serana next to Merina, but a bit closer to the alchemy set in the room, and Delphine and Esbern farther in the room closer to the table, it felt like there was something to say, but Merina didn't know it. She just looked at Esbern. He was apparently their dragon expert.

Delphine was the first to say anything. "Now then, I assume you know about..."

"Oh yes, Dragonborn! Indeed, yes." At first his voice seemed tired, but as he continued to speak, it grew more animated. "Well, this changes everything of course. There's no time to lose. We must locate... let me show you. I know I had it here somewhere." At that he gestured to Merina's bag.

Merina pulled the bag off her shoulder and handed it to him, glad that she had taken out her stuff before even finding him. She didn't want it getting jumbled up as he rummaged through it.

As Esbern was looking through the bag, Delphine asked, in a tone that sounded like she'd seen this behavior from Esbern before, what Merina was thinking "Esbern, what..."

Esbern just waved her off. "Give me... just a moment..."

After a minute or so of searching, he evidently found what he was looking for. "Ah, here it is! Come, let me show you."

They all gathered around Esbern at the table. He opened up to a certain page, which seemed to be about a monument of some sort. "You see right here. Sky Haven Temple, constructed around one of the main Akaviri military camps in the Reach, during their conquest of Skyrim."

Merina remembered learning about the Akaviri. They were the first Blades, or proto-Blades depending on what you read, to serve the emperor, the order itself was started by Reman Cyrodiil.

Delphine turned to Merina. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

Merina shook her head. She had no idea how Akaviri architecture related to stopping Alduin or the return of the dragons. What was the point of this?

Esbern shushed her. "This is where they built Alduin's Wall, to set down in stone all their accumulated dragon lore."

Now they were getting somewhere. Merina leaned in a bit closer.

"A hedge against the forgetfulness of centuries."

Merina didn't why the Akaviri built as long as it could tell them something.

"A wise and foresighted policy, in the event."

Merina couldn't argue with that. If she could, they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

"Despite the far-reaching fame of Alduin's Wall at the time— one of the wonders of the ancient world— its location was lost." Esbern's voice was that a distraught historian. Which he kind of was. Archivist was close enough.

Merina did wish he would get to the point. Like what exactly Alduin's Wall _was_. Admittedly, it was in the name, but names given by history often weren't exactly right. Especially when it came to translations from the Akaviri language, which what Merina was guessing this was. Mistranslations happened all the time when it came to that very different language. Wall could mean anything!

Delphine felt the same way about hurrying up. "Esbern. What are you getting at?"

Esbern seemed genuinely confused. "You mean... you don't mean to say that you haven't heard of Alduin's Wall?"

That was exactly what Merina was saying. Well, thinking.

Esbern moved away from the table and he sounded even more confused. "Either of you?"

Delphine asked the question that was on Merina mind and that she guessed was on Lydia and Serana's too. "Let's pretend we haven't. What's Alduin's Wall and what does it have to do with stopping the dragons?"

"Alduin's Wall was where the ancient Blades recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return. Part history, part prophecy."

Merina didn't like the sound of prophecy and even though this was good news that they at least had a lead, her heart sank a bit.

"It's location has been lost for centuries, but I've found it again. Not lost, you see, just forgotten."

If Merina knew of a place that could tell you when a demonic apocalypse starting dragon would return and just how to defeat, she would have made sure to remember that.

"The Blades' archives held so many secrets... I was only able to save a few scraps..."

Merina didn't know what to do or say, but her mother did. Delphine put a hand on his shoulder, but didn't say anything. When Delphine spoke, her voice was comforting or soft or comforting. It was in its normal tone and perhaps that was better. "So you think that Alduin's Wall will tell us how to defeat Alduin?"

Merina hoped it would. She didn't what else to do, except maybe go to the Greybeards. But they didn't seem like the type to know these things. They were all about peace and non violent ways to use the voice. She doubted that they were hiding some secret. That was about as likely as a dragon being their leader.

"Well, yes... but there's no guarantee, of course."

Merina didn't like the sound of that last bit. She decided to do what she did with everything she didn't like that she didn't immediately deal with. She ignored it. Her mother seemed to be doing the same thing when she said, "Sky Haven Temple it is then. I knew you'd have something for us, Esbern." She smiled at that last bit.

"I know the area of the Reach that Esbern's talking about. Near what's now known as Karthspire in the Karth River canyon. We can travel together or meet you there, your call."

Merina rolled her eyes in a loving way. "Mother, we still need to catch up on ten years."

Her mother smiled.

"So, what's the best way to get there? I don't want to travel in circles and as Lydia can vouch, that is exactly what I'll do without directions."

Lydia nodded. They both remembered the unfortunate circumstances that led to them meeting Serana, which wasn't unfortunate, but still. Merina had some of the worst skills with directions.

"From Riverwood, the road south through Falkreath is the most direct route. Or we could catch the carriage from Whiterun to Markarth and then approach from the west. Either way, the Reach is wild country these days. The Forsworn are everywhere. Best be careful."

"Aren't I always, Mother?"

Delphine didn't smile at that.

Merina thought for a moment. She had heard the stories about the safety, or lack there of, of the road to Markarth. Carriages were often captured by the Forsworn and the occupants could be held for months before they were killed. The only reason people knew that this happened was because a few people had escaped. "We should take the road through Falkreath. Neither sounds safer, so we should take the faster way. At least we won't have to put some poor carriage driver in danger."

Delphine nodded. Merina cracked her knuckles. "Well, we should get moving as quickly as possible. Are you two ready to go?"

Delphine took one look at Esbern and nodded. "Always. Let's go see if we can find this Sky Haven Temple."

They left the panic room to find Delphine's assistant Orgnar still taking care of the bar. Delphine turned to him. She sounded sounded sad when she spoke. "Orgnar, this is it. The inn is yours. I'm probably never coming back here."

Orgnar straightened. "Well, now. That's something to think about."

"Take care of yourself, Orgnar. Goodbye."

"Yeah... sure. You too, Delphine. You be safe."

With that, they left. The Falkreath road was actually not the road to Helgen, as Merina originally thought, showing the wonders of her navigational skills.

Delphine was leading across the mountains, this was apparently the way to get to Falkreath. Sometimes, Merina was a little worried that she had inherited her navigation skills from her mother, a worry Esbern seemed to share. "Are you this is the right way?"

Even though it was the most direct route, the Falkreath road to Karthspire could be described as _long_. It took them about two weeks to even come close to the town. The length of the route wasn't helped by the fact that they were attacked by two dragons along the way. With the the five of them all together and all of them knowing at least something about about killing dragons, it wasn't hard to get rid of them. However, it was annoying and more worryingly, it slowed them down. Finally, at the end of the two weeks, they were less than a mile from the town. However, it was now night time.

They set up camp above the canyon that night. They were almost to their destination, but it was dark and anyways, they'd heard from other travelers on the road that the area was inhabited by Forsworn, so there was no point in going in the pitch black night. Lydia and Serana had lit a fire, but Merina was turned away from it and as far away from it as she could. She said that she was making sure that no wolves or Forsworn got too close, but she was pretty sure that no one had believed that.

Merina needed time. Well, she what she really needed was for this whole 'Alduin' problem to just disappear, but she doubted that was going to happen any time soon. Merina sighed and pulled her knees closer to her chest. She rested her forehead on her hand and looked at the ground. How would Alduin destroy the world? She didn't want to know and yet it was impossible not to think about whenever she had a moment of rest. Everything would be gone. _Everything_.

It got her thinking about things she hadn't thought about in years. She had a stuffed rabbit. Not a _real_ stuffed animal, one of the little toys for children. A lady in Kvatch had sewed it for her, only a week or so after Merina had arrived. The woman had smiled and said something about how tragic it was that a girl so young would lose both her parents. Merina had wanted to bite back that her mother _wasn't _dead, she _did_ have a family, but Brother Darion held her back.

The rabbit wasn't very large, but it was soft and fat. It made of brown cloth and had two small, black buttons for eyes. Its two large, droopy ears were soft and Merina vividly remembered absentmindedly stroking them when she was younger as she tried to go to sleep.

Merina had loved that rabbit. For years, she would sleep with it every night. She never told anyone that, thinking that they would think her childish. Somehow, though, Merina had a feeling that Brother Darion knew, even if he didn't say anything. When she was thirteen, Merina decided that she was too old to be sleeping with stuffed animals and then hid the thing under the bed. But sometimes, usually when she was having a nightmare, she would find the rabbit tucked under her arm like she was little again. Merina never said anything, but she secretly liked having the rabbit. Even if she was much too old for it.

Merina wondered where that rabbit was now. She couldn't even remember where she had last placed it. The last time she had touched it was on her last journey before fleeing to Skyrim. She had been smiling, with a bit of nostalgia, and simply holding it in her hands. It made her think of when she was young. Even though there was tragedy, even though she had been sad, even though she had often felt lonely, even when Avitus was around, it reminded her of happy times. Then Brother Darion called for her to do something, probably a chore she had forgotten to do or some odd job, and she had dropped the rabbit somewhere. She couldn't remember where. Maybe on top of her clothes' chest and then it had fallen behind at some point, perhaps because of the wind. Yes, that was where it probably was.

Merina was pulled out of her reverie by a hand on her shoulder. She hadn't even heard the person walk over. Merina looked up. It was her mother.

Delphine smiled at Merina, moved her hand away from Merina's shoulder, and sat down next to her. For a moment, that smile brought back memories. Well, not exactly memories, more like images and feelings from a happier time. A simpler one. For a family that didn't have any problems, where everything was perfect. One where none of them could ever dream of an immortal dragon coming to destroy the world. One where there was no Alduin. Alduin...

Just thinking his name sent a shiver down Merina's spine. One that her mother apparently noticed. She scooted closer to Merina. "Do you think Alduin's Wall is going to tell us anything?" Merina's voice was quiet, which was good. She didn't want anyone else to hear this. It was bad enought to admit it to her mother.

Delphine's voice was equally quiet. "I don't know."

"That's reassuring." Merina sighed and looked back down at the ground. Then she looked back at her mother. "Do you think that I can actually... that I can..."

"That you can defeat Alduin?"

Merina nodded. Her mother looked at her, right in the eye. "Yes. Yes, I do."

Merina's voice cracked. "Really?"

Her mother pulled Merina close into what could almost be described as a hug. "It's okay for you to be scared."

Merina didn't answer, she simply stared off into the distance.

"I'd be worried if you weren't."

"I'm not."

"Meri—"

"_Mother_. I'm _not_ afraid."

Her mother smiled at her, sadly, as if she was already burying Merina. Merina moved out of the almost hug. "Mother, do you love me?"

Her mother looked stunned. "What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer it. Please."

"Of _course_, I love you. Why would you think otherwise?"

"And you'll love me no matter what?"

Merina could practically feel her mother rolling her eyes, even though Merina wasn't looking at her. But she heard warmth in her mother's voice when she spoke. "I will always love you. No matter what."

Merina looked at her mother. "When this is all over, we'll be together again, won't we? We'll be a family again?"

Her mother smiled. "Yes."

Her mother smiling caused Merina to smile too. "We'll travel the world. I always wanted to see High Rock."

"So have I."

"You've never been there?"

"Merina, you know I grew up in Cyrodiil."

"That's right, I'd forgotten."

"That's a pretty big detail to forget."

Merina's smile faded. "It's been a long time."

Delphine's smile faded too. "So it has."

They sat there, in silence, until they were called back to the fire. It seemed that Delphine would take first watch. Merina had offered, but everyone had insisted that she needed her rest.

"You can't defeat Alduin on a few hours of rest, my Thane."

Merina's smiled a bit, thought it was not a happy one. Her voice was quiet and forlorn when she spoke. "You have a great deal of faith in me, Lydia."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "There is no need for faith. The prophecies say that the Dragonborn shall defeat Alduin. You are Dragonborn."

Merina didn't respond to that, she just rolled over and went to sleep. Well, she tried to, anyways. There were a million things on her mind and all of them led back to Alduin. She kept tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, but even when she did, it wasn't enough. After what felt like hours, she finally fell asleep.

But even sleep didn't take her away from the problems of waking hours. She was on the top of a snow capped mountain, one she didn't recognize. The mountain felt like... well, a real mountain. The snow crunched under her boots and the wind was harsh and icy as whipped around her, causing her hair to fly in her face. Wait a minute— what had happened to her braid?

"Mother? Lydia? Serana?" Somehow, her voice easily carried over the harsh wind, but there was no answer.

Suddenly, she was enveloped in mist and fog that went up to her knees. The air grew cold and the sky turned red. The wind whipped faster and the mountain began to melt into another place. One she recognized.

No.

She wasn't back there.

She _couldn't _be.

She couldn't.

'This isn't real. This isn't real this isn't real.' It was like a mantra in Merina's mind and she wasn't sure if she was thinking it or saying it out loud. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hands covered her ears.

'This isn't real, this _can't _be real.'

Her heart was beating a million times a minute, she could feel it, like it was about to burst from her chest. Merina's clothes had morphed. Back to _those _clothes. The clothes that she had almost died in.

That was when the smells came back. The smell of charred and burning flesh, the smell of blood, of sweat, and fear. Merina felt nauseous. All of the buildings were on fire and most of the stone had been knocked down. There were bodies all around her.

She couldn't be back here, she couldn't!

It was unearthly silent. There was wind blowing, but it made no noise. The heavy mist— or was it a fog, she couldn't quite tell— still enveloped her. It felt like she was walking through thick, heavy, mud. When Merina walked, her feet made no sound. She tried to say something — anything! But no words came out. That was when she heard the wings. They beat against the sky, the only sound, almost like a heartbeat.

No.

Not this.

Not _him_.

Not now.

The thunderous sound grew closer and closer, until the body that went with them was right in front of Merina.

The fog was getting heavier and there seemed to be more and more of it, now she could barely see anything.

What could she do to stop Alduin? What was she against an immortal dragon that may or may not have been an aspect of Akatosh?

His voice thundered out as she heard the sound of his beating wings coming closer and closer, "What are you against fate? How arrogant, to think that you can change destiny."

Merina wanted to argue, wanted to say that she didn't believe in destiny. But with the sound of those beating wings, the memory of the red eyes, and the mist, the mist above all, it felt like her voice and all arguments against destiny had left her.

Those red eyes were staring right through the mist, now the only thing she could see, into Merina and there was nothing she could do to stop herself from moving back. Somehow she lost her balance and fell to the ground. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She opened her mouth, words right on her tongue, but no sound came out.

She couldn't move, she was completely frozen just staring into those eyes, feeling...

Feeling...

No! She would not be like this! She could not be like this! This wasn't her! She would not be...

She couldn't admit it, not even to herself.

Somehow, she back on her feet, running like there was no other option. But the wings kept beating against the sky closer and closer. He was almost there, she could feel his fiery breath against her skin, she was being burned alive! She kept running, but—

"Merina!"

Merina's eyes burst open, her heart was pounding like the hooves of a galloping horse on a cobblestone road, and she was on the verge of hyperventilating. Now that she was awake, one of her arms felt a bit sore.

Serana was kneeling next to Merina, her face having an expression that could only described as worry. "Merina, you were flailing around and yelling. Are you okay?"

It was a moment before Merina responded. She was trying to get her breathing under control. And have a somewhat neutral expression. "I'm fine."

Serana let out an agitated noise that was something between a growl and a sigh. "No, Merina, you're not! Stop being such a stupid, pigheaded, idiotic—"

"I get the picture, Serana. I'm fine. Really." Merina was able to smile a bit and her voice sounded more calm, but Serana didn't look convinced.

They had to keep moving. Alduin's Wall was close and none of them exactly knew exactly _when _Alduin was going to destroy the world. Better to stay on the safe side and and just assume it was sooner rather than later.

Apparently, Alduin thought the same in regards to Merina, in the fact that he thought that it was better to destroy her sooner rather than later. This was clear when a large (though no where _near_ the size of Alduin) grey and red dragon came at them the moment they reached Karthwasten screaming something about Alduin's superiority over the world.

Between Merina, Delphine, Lydia, Esbern, and Serana, it wasn't a very long fight. Over the time they had spent actually getting to Karthspire and even before that, Merina, Lydia, and Serana had perfected working as a team. One tiny gesture from one of them could tell the other two exactly how to act. It only got easier with extra help, especially help whose methods were derived from some of the original dragonslayers.

Then came the part of how to get passed the Forsworn. When they were scouting by the rocks, they noticed the most hideous of creatures. A hagraven. And, so her mother told her, when in Forsworn territory, where there were there were hagravens, there were briarhearts. Merina's question was what in Oblivion was a Briarheart.

Merina didn't see any of these mysterious "briarhearts" when they snuck down the canyon, but she did see lots of bare skin. The Forsworn apparently didn't believe in armor.

It didn't take much time for them to be spotted. They were five people in heavy armor and there were a ton of Forsworn. They could hardly hide forever. The Forsworn, however, weren't really a problem. Sure, they were good warriors, but their armor, or lack there of, was their fatal flaw. All it really took was one hit to kill the Forsworn. Esbern's Fire atronach was a big help. The only real problem was the Hagraven, but together they were able to take it out. Serana took the alchemic ingredients it left behind, which Merina had no problem with. They then proceeded to follow Esbern into a cave above the camp. Merina hoped he knew what he was doing. They had wasted enough time as it was.

When Merina entered the cave and finally found the cavern, she found out just what a Briarheart was. It was a person with a hole in their chest and where the heart should have been, there was this... briar thing. The Briarhearts, there were two of them, immediately noticed the five and started attacking with magical attack from staves. Merina dodged the spells and ran up to one of the Briarhearts. Before he could react, Merina did the one thing she could think of. If they had a hole in their chest and the briar was there instead of a heart, perhaps taking the briar would kill the Briarheart.

It worked, pulling out the briar killed the Briarheart. The other Forsworn wasn't a Briarheart and before Merina could attack, someone had already killed her. Serana asked for the briar, something about alchemy, and Merina gave it to her. Merina looted the chamber for stuff, but all it had was some gold and a few more alchemic ingredients for Serana. They continued on into what seemed to be part of a canyon, with the beautiful trees of the reach, the sky above it, and columns built into the rock. However, the only way besides the way they came was about thirty feet away and the bridge was raised. That was just great. About where the beginning of the bridge should have been were three stone pillars that looked like the ones from Bleak Falls Barrow. From the look of them, they seemed to be able to turn.

"Yes. Definitely early Akaviri stonework in here." That was Esbern, who seemed to be the expert on architecture around here. Serana probably liked him for that.

Delphine was less interested. "We've got to get that bridge down." Then she noticed the pillars. "These pillars must have something to do with it."

Yes, now that Merina looked at them again, they were just like the ones at Bleak Falls Barrow, except the symbols were different. Merina turned to Esbern. "What are they, Akaviri?"

"Yes, these are Akaviri symbols. Let's see... you have the symbol for "King"... and "Warrior"... And of course the symbol for Dragonborn. That's the one that appears to have a sort of arrow shape pointing downward at the bottom."

Merina saw it, it was on the third podium, the one on the right closest to the rock. She hoped that Esbern would tell her what the combination was, that he might have gotten it from one of his books, but no such luck. Merina sighed in an attempt to concentrate. Okay, this place was Alduin's wall and the Greybeards said that the return of the dragons was connected with her, the Dragonborn. The Akaviri eventually swore allegiance to Reman Cyrodiil, who was an emperor not a king, she honestly couldn't remember if he had been a warrior, but he was Dragonborn. Her mind seemed to send off fireworks. That was it! That was the passcode. Merina quickly, energized by excitement, turned the other two pillars to the third's symbol. For a moment, nothing happened and Merina felt her heart begin to plummet. Then, the bridge came down.

'Yes!' In her mind, Merina did a small, short happy dance.

Delphine seemed just as pleased. "Whatever you did, it worked. Let's see what else these old Blades left in our way."

Cobwebs. Lots of cobwebs. There were cobwebs all over the rather narrow passage way. Just as Merina was going to continue speed walking through the (cobweb filled) tunnels, Esbern called out, shocking her into stopping. "Wait!"

Merina turned to him and he explained. "We should be careful here. See these symbols of the floor?"

Merina looked down and then nodded. Esbern seemed to think that she understood what he meant, as he said "We'll cross once it's safe."

Great. Now she had to figure out what he meant. She took a closer look at the symbols. There was that Dragonborn symbol again. Well, it worked the first time, so maybe it would again. Carefully, she jumped from Dragonborn symbol to Dragonborn symbol, which was harder than it looked in heavy steel armor. Finally, she got to the chain in the middle of the room, which Merina guessed was the way to disable the trap. Merina dutifully pulled it and then cautiously stepped on a non-Dragonborn symbol. Nothing happened, so they all continued onto the next part of this crazy trapped filled place. Maybe there was a reason it was forgotten.

"It's safe now, let's move." That was Merina's mother.

Esbern answered her. "Yes, yes. I think we must be close to the entrance now."

They ran through the chamber, over another stone bridge, and into another cave passageway that was filled with cobwebs. Finally, they came down a set of stairs into a large chamber that once again had light shining down from the sky. There was a chest in the middle of the room and Merina took the valuables in it, which included a very nice amount of septims. When she looked up, she noticed the giant head statue sticking out of the back wall.

"Wonderful! Remarkably well-preserved, too." That was Esbern, once again marveling at the architecture. He motioned for everyone else to look at the statue. "Look here! You see how the ancient Blades revered Reman Cyrodiil. The whole place appears to be a shrine to Reman. He ended the Akaviri invasion under mysterious circumstances, you recall."

He and Delphine began walking towards the giant head, so Merina followed them. As she got closer, she had to cough from the amount of dust in the air. It had clearly been a very long time since anyone had come to this Talos forsaken place. Once Merina was a bit closer and could see through the dust, she noticed a sort of circle thing in front of the head. It had dark circular grooves in it, but other than that, there was nothing interesting about it. Merina wondered why it was there. A door to a set of stairs, perhaps?

Esbern walked onto the circle and looked down at it. "Ah... here's the infamous "blood seal." Another of the lost Akaviri arts. No doubt triggered by... well, blood." Then he turned his head to look at Merina. "Your blood, Merina."

Seeing no other choice, Merina took a breath and pulled out her dagger. She walked over to the blood seal, knelt down, and put her left hand in front of her. Wanting to just get it over with, Merina quickly made a long cut along her palm. She hoped that the small drops of blood falling on the seal would be enough.

It was. The seal light up in a bright light that made Merina turn her head away. Then, the statue head rose up and revealed another passageway. Esbern was standing in front of the passage with his torch in hand, but he didn't move to go through it. Instead, Delphine put a hand on Merina's shoulder and said, "After you, Merina. You should have the honor of being the first to set foot in Sky Haven Temple."

The passageway was a narrow, short flight of stairs that led up to a door with the Akaviri symbol for Dragonborn on it. Merina turned to look at the others and when Esbern nodded, she pushed open the stone door.

It opened to a set of stairs, but Merina couldn't see anything. "Esbern, could you hand me the torch?"

He did and Lydia passed it up to Merina. There was a stone brazier with unlit coals next to Merina, so she lit them. It allowed for at least a small bit of light for at least a small bit of light.

Esbern was right in front of Merina, having gone around Lydia and Merina had given him the torch back. He knew what to look for, so he should have the light source. He was now almost pressed against one of the walls, marveling at it. "Fascinating! Original Akaviri bas-reliefs... almost entirely intact!"

Delphine walked up and lit the next brazier, the one that Esbern had forgotten about in his observation of architecture.

"Amazing, you can see how the Akaviri craftsmen were beginning to embrace the more flowing Nordic style..."

Delphine didn't seem to care about the history of architecture. "We're here for Alduin's Wall, right, Esbern?"

Esbern seemed to remember the circumstances that caused them to find Sky Haven Temple. "Yes, of course. We'll have more time to look around later, I suppose. Let's see what' super ahead."

Delphine was now in front and they all walked into a room that made Merina stop in absolute wonder.

It was mostly dark, with the only light coming from the holes that led up to the sky. There were cobwebs and dust, but that was to be expected. But beyond that, the room looked like it could have been built yesterday. Nothing seemed broken. There were a couple of dusty chairs around a large stone table. Perfectly intact stairs led to other rooms that Merina would have to go through later. There was ivy growing on some of the walls and the wall on the right... It could only be Alduin's Wall.

"Shor's bones! Here it is! Alduin's Wall... so well preserved... I've never seen a finer example of early Second Era Akaviri sculpture relief..."

Once again, it was Delphine who reminded Esbern of the danger they were all in. "Esbern, we need information, not a lecture on history."

"Yes, yes. Let's see what we have." He was walking up to the wall and Merina followed close behind him.

The wall was even more magnificent up close. The stone was etched into beautiful pictures, Merina didn't know how they hadn't eroded after all the centuries that had passed since they were carved. Esbern got up close to the far left and began explaining to Merina and everyone else what it meant. "Look, here is Alduin! This panel goes back to the beginning of time, when Alduin and the Dragon Cult ruled over Skyrim."

Serana moved up closer to see the pictures, even closer to the wall than Merina was. Esbern moved right. "Here, the humans rebelled against their dragon overlords— the legendary Dragon War."

Merina supposed he meant legendary in the sense of it being famous, but if it was so famous, why had she never heard about it? Either way, the wall's picture showed

"Alduin's defeat is the centerpiece of the Wall. You see, here he is falling from the sky. The Nord Tongues— masters of the Voice— are arrayed against him."

There were three, human like figures, but they all looked rather the same. Alduin was a giant in the picture, just as he was in real life.

Delphine was clearly worried, her voice sounded anxious and was fast paced. "So does it show how to defeat Alduin? Isn't that why we're here?"

Esbern sighed which gave off the feel of long suffering. Merina supposed that her mother was never interested in architecture or history. "Patience, my dear. The Akaviri were not a straightforward people. Everything is etched in allegory and mythic symbolism."

Well that was just great. Why couldn't people just say what they meant? That would make this so much easier. But perhaps even the Akaviri hadn't know how Alduin was defeated. Or perhaps they just thought the world would think it important enough to remember.

Esbern took another look at Alduin's fall. "Yes, yes. This here, coming from the mouths of the Nord heroes— the Akaviri symbol for "Shout." But... there's no way to know what Shout is meant."

Whatever hope had come from what Esbern had originally said was killed by the last part of his statement. Of course the Akaviri wouldn't say _what _shout had been used to defeat Alduin, that would have been far too easy! No, they just had to keep it all secret like!

Merina felt like she wanted to faint again, but she managed to stay upright. This was a stone floor and Merina didn't like the idea of cracking her skull. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to see that it was Serana's. She smiled at Serana, but didn't say anything. Lydia was right behind Serana, but she didn't say anything. In fact, she looked like she didn't know what to say.

Delphine seemed skeptical, but not hopeless. "You mean they used a Shout to defeat Alduin? You're sure?"

Esbern seemed pulled out of his thoughts. "Hmm? Oh, yes. Presumably something rather specific to dragons, or even Alduin himself." He looked back at the Wall. "Remember, this is where they recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return."

Delphine didn't seem to doubt Esbern anymore. "So we're looking for a Shout then. Damn it."

Merina was confused. What did her mother have against the Voice? This was no different than going after some mystical artifact to defeat Alduin.

"You ever heard of such a thing? A Shout that can knock a dragon out of the sky?"

Merina frowned and shook her head. "No, I've never heard of anything like that." Then, it occurred to Merina. "But the Greybeards might. They seem to know everything about the Voice."

"You're probably right. I was hoping to avoid having to involve them in this, but it seems we have no choice."

Merina was even more confused now. "What have you got against the Greybeards?"

Delphine seemed bitter when she spoke. "If they had their way, you'd do nothing but sit up on their mountain and and talk to the sky, or whatever it is they do. The Greybeards are so afraid of power that they won't use it. Think about it. Have they tried to end the civil war or done anything about Alduin?"

Merina felt like it was almost a betrayal against the people who had taught her the Voice and done nothing but help her, but she couldn't argue against that.

"No. And they're afraid of you, of your power. Trust me, there's no need to be afraid. Think of Tiber Septim. Do you think he'd have founded the Empire if he listened to the Greybeards?"

"Don't worry. I'm not afraid of my own power."

Her mother gave a nod. "Good. The Greybeards can teach you a lot, but don't let them turn you away from your destiny."

There was that word again. Destiny. Was she the only one who didn't believe in it? She made her own choices and there was no one to blame but herself for her own actions. Destiny and fate was just a way to push away responsibility.

"You're Dragonborn and you're the only one who can stop Alduin. Don't forget it."

Well, even if she didn't believe in destiny or prophecy, no one else was stepping up to the plate. Either way, it really did fall to her. Like it or not. "I should go see if the Greybeards know anything about this Shout."

"Right good thing they've already let you into their little cult. Not likely they'd help if Esbern or me if we came calling."

Merina didn't want to hurt her relationship with her mother, so she didn't argue with that. Esbern was able to ease the situation by talking about the last bit of Alduin's Wall. "Look here on the third panel. The prophecy that brought the Akaviri to Tamriel in the first place, in search of the Dragonborn. Here are the Akaviri— the Blades— you see their distinctive longswords. How they kneel, their ancient mission fulfilled, as the last Dragonborn contends with Alduin at the end of time." Then he turned to Delphine. "Are you paying attention, Delphine? You might learn something of our own history."

"My daughter is not the last Dragonborn, Esbern."

Esbern looked at Merina, realizing what the panel implied. "Of course not. The Akaviri must have misread something."

"This isn't the end of time."

Everyone looked at Merina, rather shocked that she was saying something. For a moment, she thought of the dream and the very heavy mist (or was it fog?). But she quickly pushed that memory away. Merina began to rant, her voice getting louder and faster as she continued talking. "And I don't care what any stupid prophecy says. If I or somebody else defeats Alduin, it isn't because prophecy says so! It's because _we_ choose to stop him. _We_ have to stop him. Not because of some cosmic destiny plan."

Merina stomped off, looking for a back exit. Eventually, she found one, but by that point it was dark and there was no sense in starting to travel at night. They would probably just get hopelessly lost again. There was a set of bedrooms in the temple however with fully functioning beds. But Merina couldn't sleep. She tried for hours, but it was just impossible. So she quietly slipped out of her bed and tiptoed out of the room, trying not to wake Lydia and Serana. Merina decided to wander the hall, seeing as there wasn't anything else to do. She had left all her books back in Breezehome. That was when she found it.

It was a sword and set of armor. She found the sword first. It was lying in the middle of a table in a back room. Even though it wasn't in anything close to a place of honor and looked like a normal Blades' sword, Merina could feel the power emanating from it. Merina picked it up and held it out in front of her, marveling at the craftsmanship. She could now tell what its power was, simply by holding it. It was meant for her. Or at least, someone like her. This sword was designed to be used by a Dragonborn to kill dragons.

"Can't sleep?"

Merina jumped back and dropped the sword. She turned to find Esbern right in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean scare you. I often can't sleep myself. I used to dream of it, you know."

Merina was kneeling down, about to pick up the sword. "Dream about what?"

"Of Alduin. In the dream I was standing someplace high up. A tower or a mountain. It was always just before dawn and the whole world was in darkness. Then came the flash of light, just on the horizon within the clouds that mark the border between worlds. It could have been lighting, but there was no thunder. In the dream, the sense of foreboding grew, but I could never wake up. Then it came again, this time more distinct, closer, definitely not lighting, now it was orange, brilliant orange. The color of hearth and dawn. And a sound too, distinct and indistinct, not thunder, something else. Something I should recognize, but in the dream I cannot place it. I want to leave my high place to seek shelter from what I don't yet know. In the manner of dreams, I cannot escape, I'm forced to wait. Then, finally, realization and horror arrive together. The orange is flame, heat, the sound a roar, a challenge in their ancient tongue. But now it's too late to escape. The dragon's upon me, fire and darkness descending like a thunderbolt. And not just any dragon, but _the _dragon. Alduin, the world eater, the dragon who devours both the living and the dead. And then I would wake up and hope that it was just a dream, but know that it was not."

Merina had the sword in hand and looked down at it. "And here we are."

"Yes, here we are." Esbern moved into a corner of the room and opened a box. "Here, come closer. There's something you might want to use."

Inside the chest was a set of beautiful smoked steel armor, not like type Merina used. There was a helmet, shield, armor, gauntlets, and boots and when Merina carefully looked it over, was clearly more protective than what she wore.

"It's the armor of the ancient Blades', but I'm not sure how long it's been down here."

She looked up at Esbern while holding the armor. "Can I use this?"

Esbern smiled and nodded. Merina told him goodnight and placed the armor back in the box and placed the sword back on the table. She didn't want to put armor or before going to sleep and she didn't want to go through the hassle of rummaging through her armor for her sheath and waking up Lydia or Serana or risk losing it. She would put the armor on and switch swords the next day. Then she went back to bed. Now she could sleep.

She didn't sleep for very long. Lydia woke her up bright and early, just as Merina asked her to do the night before. Before they left, though, Merina remembered the sword and armor. Instead of putting on her regular steel that morning, she walked over to the small room and put on the Blades' armor. But instead of taking the shield for herself, she gave it to Lydia.

"It's better than the one you have and it doesn't have leather, so it's less likely to burn, and—"

"My Thane,"

Merina looked up to see Lydia smiling. "Thank you."

With that, Merina said goodbye to Esbern and her mother. Then it was out through the back exit. The exit led to a courtyard that had clearly been abandoned for a century at the very least. The stone floor was cracked and all types of plants were growing in it. The Juniper trees that grew all over the Reach were everywhere. The architecture that was left was familiar to Merina, in a distant sort of way. It was like the architecture of Cloud Ruler Temple, or what it had probably looked like before it was destroyed. A very narrow and treacherous path led back down to the river below Sky Haven Temple. They went down slowly, trying not fall. They really only took it because it was the fastest way down and this was a narrower part of the river and there was road and bridge just across from them that they could take to get to Markarth. They had to walk across a bit of the river's banks, but they found a place to cross and get up to the road quickly enough. The road however, wasn't safe and they were soon attacked by Forsworn. It was easy enough to deal with them and then back on the road to Markarth. Now that they had left from Sky Haven Temple, it was a much shorter road and they were in Markarth within a couple days . Then it was a carriage ride to Ivarstead. Merina paid the driver extra to persuade him to take them all the way there. It was about a two week long journey, but it would have been far longer on foot. They immediately began the hike to High Hrothgar and arrived there at around noon on the 30th of Frostfall. Her birthday. She supposed she would have to belatedly celebrate once the whole Alduin problem was solved.

But first, she had to actually find Arngeir. That was harder than it looked, but eventually she found him sitting on a chair in one of the halls with another Greybeard. When she walked in, he looked up. "Welcome back to High Hrothgar, Dragonborn."

Merina wasn't sure what to say. How was she supposed to explain this? She decided to skip explanation and just get to the point. "Arngeir, I need to learn a Shout to defeat Alduin."

Arngeir didn't seem to be happy at all to hear that come out of her mouth. He stood up. "Where did you hear of that? Who have you been talking to?"

Merina took a step back, startled. "It was etched on Alduin's Wall, the Blades helped me find it."

Arngeir seemed no happier to hear that. "The Blades! Of course. They specialize in meddling in matters they barely understand. Their reckless arrogance knows no bounds. They have always sought to turn to the Dragonborn from the path of wisdom."

Merina was about to bite back at him— she wasn't about to let him speak about her mother or Esbern like that!— but he continued speaking. "Have you learned nothing from us? Would you simply be a tool in the hands of the Blades, to be used for their own purposes?"

That was it. How _dare_ he speak about her mother as if she was Merhunes Dagon! "At least the Blades are doing something to stop Alduin! You just sit here and do nothing on you mountain!"

Arngeir returned in kind. "Clearly _you_ have learned nothing! Have you consider that Alduin was not meant to be defeated? If the world is meant to end, so be it. Let it end and be reborn."

Merina was beyond shocked. If she'd had any control over what she said next, she wouldn't even have tried to stop herself. "What?! How— how can you say something like that! What about all the people who would _suffer _and _die_?! How can be so willing to let that happen?! Do you have no empathy for anyone?!"

Merina was about to walk out— she didn't care about the Greybeards anymore, she would find the Shout on her own. How dare he insult her mother! She had turned around and was about to start walking when the other Greybeard stood up and began speaking and the ground began to shake. Merina had to stop Lydia and Serana from falling. "Arngeir. Rek los Dovahkiin, Strundu'ul. Rek fen tinvaak Paarthurnax."

The words that came out of Arngeir's mouth sounded like it was painful to say them. "Dragonborn... wait."

Merina almost ignored and almost started walking. But she stopped herself. If she walked out without getting the information, she wouldn't be able to stop Alduin. And if she couldn't stop Alduin, then the world was going to end. She wasn't going to be responsible for that and she certainly wasn't going to let everyone die simply because she was angry. So she pushed that rage back down deep within herself and turned around.

"Forgive me, I was… intemperate. I allowed my emotions to cloud my judgement. Master Einarth reminded me of my duty. The decision to help you is not mine to make."

Merina didn't understand the last bit of what he said— what did he mean about it not being his decision?— but if he could tell her how to stop Alduin, she didn't care. "So you can teach me the Shout?"

"No. I cannot teach it to you because I do not know it. It is called "Dragonrend", but its Words of Power are unknown to us. We do not regret this loss. Dragonrend holds no place within the Way of the Voice."

"What's so bad about Dragonrend?" What was so bad about a Shout that could stop Alduin? Even if Merina had no idea of how exactly it did that.

"It was created by those who lived under the unimaginable cruelty of Alduin's Dragon Cult. Their whole lives were consumed with hatred for dragons, and they poured all their anger and hatred into this Shout. When you learn a Shout, you take it into your very being. In a sense, you become the Shout. In order to learn and use this Shout, you will be taking this evil into yourself."

Merina didn't think she would be taking it. She already had, enough of it to keep her going for a life time. But she didn't want to tell Arngeir that. He was already reluctant to help her. That is, if he could help her. "Well, if you don't know that Shout, then how am I supposed to learn it?"

"Only Paarthurnax, the leader of our order, can answer that question if he so chooses."

Merina remembered hearing about Paarthurnax from Arngeir before. Merina could only meet him when her voice could "open the path", whatever that meant. He lived at the very top of the mountain. With the cold at High Hrothgar alone, he had to be inhuman to do that. "Then I need to speak to Paarthurnax."

"You weren't ready. You still aren't ready. But thanks to the Blades, you now have questions only Paarthurnax can answer."

If she heard him use that tone about her mother one more time...

"How do I get to the top of the mountain. You said my voice needed to "open the path"?" Her voice trailed off at the end.

"Only those whose voice is strong enough can find the path. Come. We will teach a Shout to open the path to Paarthurnax."

With that, he and the other Greybeards began walk towards another corridor. After a moment of simply looking at each other, Merina, Lydia, and Serana followed the Greybeards.

The corridor was well lit from windows and it was a silent walk through. Merina was right behind Arngeir and she could feel him judging her. The corridor led to a set of doors and when one of the Greybeards opened them, they revealed the courtyard. All the Greybeards walked to the great set of large stairs that led up to an empty, incredibly windy path. Merina really hoped that wasn't the path to Paarthurnax.

There was a large fire lit in a pit on the landing between the two sets of stairs. Merina went up close to the fire because she cold. Luckily, the Greybeards made it so that Merina didn't have to move by gathering around it in a circle. All of them, that is except for Arngeir. He walked up right next to Merina.

"The path to Paarthurnax lies through this gate. I will show you how to open the way."

Merina hoped that he would. The path looked so windy that it seemed like if anyone tried to pass they'd be swept off the mountain.

"Lok"

The word flew out of his mouth looking like the power of Unrelenting Force. Merina turned around to see a long set of symbols etched like fire into the ground. This time, Merina wasn't surprised when she understood it. Less than a moment after Argneir said the first word, he was onto the next. "Vah"

Somehow, the knowledge was quicker to Merina. Maybe it was the urgency of the situation or maybe it was something else, she didn't know. Somehow she _knew_ the word and yet she also knew that she couldn't turn it into a Shout.

"Koor" Argneir said the word calmly, not like Merina would when she was trying to Shout. Then again, Merina doubted that Argneir was trying to put the Shout into effect. Wait a minute— what did this Shout actually do? She had forgotten to ask about that little detail.

The words surrounded her, their light starting to fade. In that moment, Merina understood all of them, all together. Even if she couldn't actually use them yet. They meant spring, summer, and sky. This Shout had something to do with the weather. That much Merina understood.

"I will grant you my knowledge of Clear Skies. This is your final gift from us, Dragonborn. Use it well."

With that, the knowledge seemed to flow out Arngeir like a dragon's soul. Now Merina understood it, _really_ understood its meaning. She didn't know how else to describe the feeling that knowledge brought. Simply that she now truly knew it. Also, she knew what the Shout was actually going to do. This would get rid of that awful wind.

"Clear Skies will blow away the mist, but only for a time."

Ah, so she on _another _time limit. She was just going to have to figure out when to Shout. She didn't want to do it unnecessarily. Besides hurting her throat, Shouting over and over again drained her. Not in a physical way, in a way she really couldn't quite name. If she did it too much, the power of the Voice would actually do her more harm than good. She supposed it had to with, as Arngeir said it, "becoming the Shout".

"The path to Paarthurnax is perilous, not to be embarked upon lightly."

"Argneir, if you're trying to tell you're worried, I'll be fine."

Merina almost thought he somehow hadn't heard her, but she saw a touch of worry added to his face, even though her words were meant to comfort him. Merina looked at the snowy ground, for some reason not wanting to look at him. "I know I'm not the best of students, I'm certainly not the one you wanted. I'm not a peaceful or reflective person, I never have been. I just— I just hope I haven't completely disappointed you." Merina sighed, feeling for a moment, very tired. "I know how you feel about what I'm what I'm doing. But I have to see Paarthurnax. I _have _to stop Alduin. Maybe you something more about philosophy of letting or the nature of Nirn, but I don't. And to be honest, I don't care. All I care about right now, is stopping Alduin, because I cannot sit around and watch the world _burn_ when I know there's something I can do to stop it."

For a second, Arngeir just stared at her, but Merina got the feeling he was seeing someone else. He said something so quietly, Merina, who was standing right next didn't hear anything and would have sworn that he hadn't spoken, if not for the movement of his mouth. Then he cleared his throat. "If you keep moving and stay focused on your goal, you will reach the summit."

Merina would have asked what he had whispered, if not for incredibly sad look on his face. It was none of her business really. So she simply nodded and walked the second set steps, which were covered with snow in some parts. She looked up at the gate. There was a strange symbol, but if it originally had been more clear, it was now far too ravaged by time to tell what it meant. If it meant anything at all. Merina found it rather odd that a gate been constructed for the path. This Paarthurnax person must be quite old for there to be a gate for pilgrims. But, that didn't make any sense either. The wind (Merina was _not _going to call it mist. Arngeir must have been going blind to think to think that was just nice, harmless mist.) could only have been gotten rid by a Shout, otherwise Arngeir would told her a time when the mist would go away. And only the Greybeards or Dragonborns knew how to Shout. But she was the first the first Dragonborn since probably Tiber Septim to train with the Greybeards. Unless Paarthurnax was a vampire, he couldn't have been that old. Maybe this was just leader of the Greybeards tradition. Or maybe he really was a vampire. Either way, she had to go, vampire or no vampire. She turned her head to look Lydia and Serana. The two glanced at each other and then walked up to Merina. She cracked a smile. "Well, are you two ready to meet this Paarthurnax?"

Serana nodded. Lydia simply said, "If you are ready, my Thane."

Brevity laid aside, Merina, too, nodded. She walked the final bit of stairs and then took a deep breath, gathering up the energy and focus to make this work. Argneir wasn't lying when he said that she needed to take it into herself. However, she also need to find and pull that bit out to actually use it. It wasn't effortless like Unrelenting Force was for her. She straightened up a bit. Then she released the Shout. "Lok Vah Koor!"

When she said, she stumbled a bit and almost fell down. But when she looked where the wind had been, it was now gone. She didn't have to say or even look at the other two. They all just started running. Argneir had the wind would return and Merina didn't think that any of them wanted to get caught in that.

The path was mostly snow, with the odd broken step or two. As soon as Merina had gone up one of these steps, she understood what Arngeir meant by mist. This was different than the wind, but instead of looking like it push her off the mountain, Merina couldn't see anything through this mist. She didn't want to take any chances with falling off the mountain or letting Lydia or Serana fall, so she again pulled up the energy and Shouted.

The path was winding, there were lots of rocks to go over, and there was mist everywhere. Merina Shouted again and again, but there was just more of it. However, beyond that, Merina didn't understand what Arngeir meant by the path being perilous.

She then came across the wind again, but at least she could see through it. She was going to have to go across a very unstable looking bridge. Merina didn't know how old it was or how long it had been since someone had used it, but it definitely didn't look safe. They moved across it, one at a time. That Merina had to take back her words about the path being safe because that was when she encountered the Ice Wraith.

The Ice Wraith was small, but Merina knew from experience that she shouldn't underestimate because of that. Serana's ice magic wasn't going to do anything with this creature for obvious reasons and these things were fast, so they were hard to attack with a sword. Lydia came to the rescue for this, bashing it with her large, new shield. The thing now a bit dazed, Merina stabbed it through the head. Or what looked like a head for a wraith.

Then it was back to meandering along the path until they encountered the next Ice Wraith. This one was bigger and came right of the mist, swerving to make it difficult to hit. It went for Merina's face and in a knee jerk reaction, she slammed her gauntlet covered lower arm into the face region. Serana made quick work of it with her dagger.

Then it was once again back to going the path, continuously Shouting away the mists. It seemed like the path was never ending and there was always another large rock to climb over. At one point while they were catching their breath with air that seemed to be getting and thinner as they went up, Merina took the chance to look out over the mountain. It was sunset, the sky a beautiful orange through the clouds. Merina could see the small outlines of what she guessed was Ivarstead that looked smaller than ants and in the distance, she could see the Veloth Mountains that were the border to Morrowind standing tall against the dusk's sky. The image was ruined by another Ice Wraith attacking them, but they dealt with it as quickly as they did the first two.

The path seemed to be getting narrower and narrower as well steeper and steeper. It was also getting harder to see in the dying light, but the sun had ways to go before it descended beyond sight and they had to keep going. Merina had a feeling that they were getting close. The mist was gone and so was the wind. The snow was a beautiful rosy color from the dusk and it really was a picturesque sight. Merina would have to come back and look at view when things were more peaceful.

Merina had spoken too soon when it came to the magical wind being gone, but there was only a little bit of it left in a narrow passage between two large rocks. They were almost there, Merina could feel it.

Then they were there, at the summit, their destination. Finally, she would be told how to stop Alduin! But they were alone, except for a little wind sending snow off the mountain, the orange dusk, an almost circle where the snow seemed strangely fly up, and a lone Word Wall. Where was Paarthurnax?

She didn't have time to think about that, as at that moment, a giant dragon flew out of the sky. At first, Merina thought it was Alduin, the size seemed correct, and she immediately pulled her bow, as did Lydia. But then, she saw that the dragon wasn't black, it only appeared that way through the sunlight. And the wings seemed a damaged, Alduin's weren't. One of the fangs was missing, Merina was certain that Alduin had both. And on a second look, she that this dragon was too small to be Alduin.

"Lydia," she said calmly, which surprised herself. "Put your weapon down."

"My Thane, have you lost your mind?"

A bit of Merina thought that she had and was screaming at her to attack, to defend herself! But somehow, something in Merina told that attacking wasn't the way. Perhaps the Greybeards had rubbed off on her, if only a bit.

The dragon landed, shaking the ground, but Merina made sure that she stayed standing. She turned head back to see if Lydia and Serana were alright and thankfully, though not surprisingly, they were. Merina turned back to look at the dragon, who was, in turn, looking at her.

"Drem Yol Lok. Greetings, wunduniik. I am Paarthurnax. Who are you? What brings you to my strunmah ... my mountain?" His voice was similar to Alduin's in its deepness and in sound, but kinder. Or at least, less threatening.

Merina didn't understand half the words he was saying, luckily he seemed to be translating them. Instead of running away, which quite a bit of her felt like doing, or just informing him that Alduin had returned, she said, "You know, the Greybeards... forgot to mention that you were a dragon. I honestly thought you might have been a vampire, myself."

He didn't comment on her vampire theory, though he looked rather amused. Or what she thought a dragon might look like when it was amused. "I am as my father, Akatosh, made me. As are you... Dovahkiin."

How he did he know that she was Dragonborn? Then again, how had she known not to attack him?

"Tell me. Why do you come here, volaan? Why do you intrude on my meditation?"

Hopefully, Paarthurnax would have the answer. When she spoke, her speech was rushed, and seemed to fly out of her mouth. "Alduin has returned and I need to learn Dragonrend. Can you teach it to me?"

He made a sound that sounded almost chiding and then said, "Drem. Patience. There are formalities which must be observed at the meeting of two of the dov."

Did he not the danger they were it?! That was word was possibly going to end and he wanted to do some formal hello?! Argh!

Thankfully, she managed to keep those thoughts in. She didn't want to be rude to Paarthurnax.

Hopefully, this wouldn't take too long.

Parthurnax moved towards the Word Wall and then turned his head to look at her. "By long tradition, the elder speaks first. Hear my Thu'um! Feel it in your bones. Match it, if you are Dovahkiin!"

Then he turned back to Word Wall and moved back a bit. Merina was intrigued. She guessed he was going to use a Shout, but which one? This would be interesting to see.

She didn't even hear the words come out of his mouth, she just saw fire. Her eyes widened, she didn't know how to do that!

Paarthurnax turned back to her. "I have spoken. The Rotmulaag waits."

Merina walked to the wall tentatively. There was no way she could match that. But even though she knew she didn't have a chance, she got up close.

Only a word was on fire, a symbol in the dragon language. She moved closer and put her hand out, almost touching it.

"A gift, Dovahkiin. Understand Fire as the dov do."

She was still looking at the word when the knowledge poured in. Yol. Fire.

"Now, show me what you can do. Greet me, not as a mortal, but as Dovah!"

Merina walked up to him. She didn't want hurt Paarthurnax, but with only word and the fact that this was the way dragons said hello, Merina doubted that this injure or cause him pain.

"Yol!"

Only a small, pathetic burst of flame came out. Merina was almost embarrassed that it was that weak. Paarthurnax didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed almost pleased. "Aaah... yes! Sossedov los mul! The dragonblood runs strong in you. It is long since I had the pleasure of speech with one of my own kind."

In that moment, Merina's impatience evaporated and indeed, she ashamed of the fact that she just wanted Paarthurnax to answer questions. She wondered how long he'd been up here, alone. Certainly longer she or anyone she knew had been alive.

"So. You have made your way here, to me. No easy task for a joor... a mortal. Even one of the Dovah Sos, Dragonblood. What would you ask of me?"

Her voice was calmer and slower than before. "As I said, Alduin has returned, I need to learn Dragonrend, so I can defeat him."

Author's Note: Well, my spark came back faster than I thought it would, which is great, seeing as I was able to get this done faster than I thought I would. This is entire story is going a lot faster than I thought it would, but there is a lot more to go through in the thing? I am really excited about writing this part. Even though I'm going to have to go through Season Unending. In theory, I love that quest and every time before I get to the peace council, I'm fangirling. Once I'm actually in it though I'm wanting to bang my head on a desk. I thinks that's intended, though. Anyways, I don't Skyrim or any of the Elder Scrolls games. Any dialogue you recognize doesn't belong to me. I appreciate all feedback and any review is welcome! Thank you for reading!


	11. The Throat of the World

_"The movements of Merina just before she battled Alduin for the first time are practically unknown, except for a small part of her journey. This is what makes Merina both an intriguing and infuriating subject for a historian. There is much legend and story about her that makes her more myth than actual person. The job of those who study her is attempt to garner truth from legend and attempt to know what area of Skyrim she was at around a certain period, as there is very little actual knowledge, most of it is merely conjecture. The actual facts about her early life are surprisingly few for a future empress. We know practically everything about Marinus, the eldest son of Emperor Titus Mede II, who was did not do half the things Merina did, and yet there is __very_ _little from the first twenty two or so years of this woman's life. There is actually speculation of the day and year of her birth, because both were not officially recorded and may have been changed for propaganda reasons during her life or shortly after her death._

_~Life of Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

Paarthurnax did not seemed surprised by her question. Admittedly she'd said it already, but she had been speaking so fast, even Merina herself couldn't understand what exactly she had said. "Ah. I have expected you. Prodah. You would not come all this was for tinvaak with an old dovah. No. You seek you weapon against Alduin."

He instantly made her feel bad and callous over why she came. Maybe the Arngeir had a point when he said he didn't want her going to see Paarthurnax. But she needed to stop Alduin. Also, the Greybeards hadn't let her go any earlier, even if it was just to talk.

Part of her felt like being bitter and mentioning that Arngeir didn't want her coming at all. But that seemed rude. She could ask Paarthurnax why later. And now she had another question. "How did you know I came for Dragonrend?"

"Alduin komeyyt tiid. What else would you seek? Alduin and Dovahkiin return together. But, I do not know the Thu'um you seek. Krosis. It cannot be known to me. Your kind, joore— mortals— created it as a weapon against the dov... the dragons. Our hadrimme, our minds cannot even... comprehend its concepts."

Merina felt like sinking to her knees and just crying. And possibly cursing. She gone looking for Esbern, thinking he'd have the answer, even before she knew of Dragonrend. She had gone to Alduin's Wall, thinking it would have the answer. She had gone Arngeir, thinking he would know Dragonrend. And now, she gone to Paarthurnax, thinking he would have the answer. And he did not. The seeming last chance she and to tell her the answer did not have it and could never have it. She couldn't say anything, it took all the strength she had not to fall into the snow.

It was Serana who spoke for Merina. "Then how can she learn it?"

"Drem. All in good time. First a question for _her_. Why does she want to learn this Thu'um?"

Merina was baffled. Hadn't she already answered this? "I need to defeat Alduin."

"Yes. Alduin... zeymah. The elder brother. Gifted, grasping, and troublesome as is so often the case with first born. But why? Why must _you _stop Alduin?"

That was a question Merina had been asking herself. "Everyone says that's there's a prophecy that only a Dragonborn can stop Alduin. I don't believe in it. I'm doing it because _I don't want the world to end_ and nobody else seems to be stepping up to do it!"

Paarthurnax didn't seem too moved and seemed more philosophical than anything else. "Pruzah. As good a reason as any. There are many who feel as you do, although not all."

Merina instantly thought of the Greybeards, Arngeir in particular.

"Some say that all things must end, so that the next can come to pass. Perhaps this world is simply the Egg of the next kalpa? Lein vokiin? Would you stop the next world from being born?"

"I'm am going to fend for the people already here. Let the next world fend for itself."

"Paaz. A fair answer."

Merina thought it was.

"Ro fus... maybe you only balance the forces that work to quicken the end of this world."

Merina didn't like to think that there would be an end at all, so she was going to edit out the word "quicken" from her memory.

"Even we who ride the currents of time, cannot see past time's end. Wuldsetiid los tahrodiis. Those who wish to hasten the end, may delay it. Those who work to delay the end, may bring it closer."

She felt like he was warning her, but from what, she didn't know. Well, she knew what he meant, but she wasn't exactly sure on how _she _could end the world.

"But you have indulged my weakness for speech long enough. Krosis. Now I will answer your question."

Under any other circumstances, Merina would have welcomed the discussion. She was not usually very scholarly, but that didn't mean she didn't like learning the wisdom a dragon from possibly the beginning of time might have. Besides, beyond the need to stop the end of the world, Merina enjoyed Paarthurnax's company. Still, she needed her answer.

"Do you know why I live here, at the Monahven— what you name the Throat of the World?"

Merina had hunted down dragons that lived on mountains, but had never questioned why they did. "I never thought about it. Why do you?"

"This is the most sacred mountain in Skyrim. Zok revak strunmah. The great mountain of the world. Here, the ancient Tongues, the first mortal masters of the Voice, brought Alduin to battle and defeated him."

"And they used Dragonrend to do it, right?" She was hoping that Paarthurnax would get to the point of this, as informative as the history lesson was.

"Yes and no. Viik nuz ni kron. Alduin was not truly defeated, either. If he was, you would not be here seeking to... defeat him."

Paarthurnax had her there. Did that make this _entire _venture to find out what Dragonrend was utterly _useless_?!

"The Nords of those days used the Dragonrend Shout to cripple Alduin. But that was not enough. Ok mulaag unslaad. It was the Kel— the Elder Scroll. They used it to... cast him adrift on the currents of Time."

Merina didn't even know how that was possible. Or even what an Elder Scroll was. So she asked Paarthurnax just that.

"Hmm. Now how to explain in your tongue. The dovah have words for such things that joorre do not. It is an... artifact from outside time. It does not exist, but it has always existed. Roh waldaan. They are… hmm… fragments from creation. The Kelle… Elders Scrolls as you name them, they have often been used for prophecy. Yes, your prophecy comes from an Elder Scroll. But this is only a small part of their power. Zofaas suleyk."

To Merina, that didn't explain anything, so she simply asked her next question, but she didn't want to get stuck on the question. "Are— are you saying the Nords sent Alduin forward in time."

"Not intentionally. Some hoped he would be forever gone, forever lost. Meyye. I knew better. Tiid bov amativ. Times flows ever onward. One day, he would surface. Which is why I have lived here. For thousands of mortal years I have waited. I knew where he would emerge, but not when."

Merina sighed. "So how does this help me? I can't exactly throw Alduin back in time. I certainly can't go back in time to kill him."

"Tiid krent. Time was… shattered here because of what the ancient Nords did to Alduin. If you brought that Kel, that Elder Scroll, back here… to the Tiid-Ahraan, the Time Wound…"

Merina was guessing that was the odd place where the snow went upwards, but never into the clouds. That was where she guessed a Time Wound would be."

"With the Elder Scroll that was used to break Time, you might be able to…cast yourself back into the other end of the break. You could learn Dragonrend from those who created it."

Merina wasn't sure if that would work, it sure did sound dodgy, but she didn't have any better ideas. "But how would I find this Elder Scroll? It's not like I have some magic pointer to tell me where it is."

Unfortunately, Paarthurnax didn't have an answer for that. "Krosis. No, I know little of what has passed below in the long years I have lived here."

Merina supposed she would have to give him the same crash course she did Serana. But that would have to wait for another time.

"You are likely better informed than I."

That wasn't a good sign. Merina thought for a moment. Esbern or Argneir _might _know, but she doubted it. This didn't sound like their expertise. If she had more time, she would go back to Cyrodiil, the works of the old Mages Guild were still in some of the libraries, or she could to the Synod or the College of Whispers, if she could get access. But she didn't have that kind of time. Merina turned to Lydia. "Lydia, is there anywhere for Mages to go in Skyrim to learn?"

It was a long shot, but it was probably the only way she would get answers. If not, she would have to go to Arngeir or Esbern. But they were probably even less likely to know.

Lydia wrinkled her nose. "I suppose that would be the College of Winterhold, my Thane."

Merina ignored Lydia's distaste. "Well, then, I suppose that's where we'll start our search."

They had to leave immediately, even though by now it was night. There was still light in the sky from a beautiful Aurora Borealis. This was what Merina really loved from Skyrim. You could never see something like that in Cyrodiil, not even in Bruma.

It was a long hike down, made even longer by the fact they were going all the way back down to Ivarstead and that they had to move slower in the dark. By the time they got back down to Ivarstead, it was early morning and they were able to hire someone to take them to Riften by boat. Merina originally asked to be taken all the way to Winterhold, but she was told that there were too many waterfalls (not to mention that the boatman was unwilling to take a trip so long). So they took the boat to Riften, then took a carriage to Windhelm, because the horse couldn't go all the way, and then finally got a carriage ride to Winterhold. All in all, it was a long month's journey. It was the 2nd of Sun's Dusk by the time they finally made it to the very small town, Merina couldn't even call it a city, despite it being a capital. The trip had been made longer by the fact that winter had come, so the roads were icy, especially in the northern parts of their journey. Luckily, they weren't disturbed by dragons, so at least that didn't slow them down. Hopefully, at least for the moment, Alduin know what they were planning. That didn't make Merina any less worried about the time or the if they would even get anything out this. This could have just been a huge waste of time. But she didn't have any better ideas.

The town of Winterhold did not look like the place to find an Elder Scroll or even a place to learn magic. The few buildings that there were there were made of wood and unstable at best. Merina heard about a collapse that had happened here, but she didn't expect it to be this big. The guard she ran into said it best. "If you're here to see the sights, you've seen them. Might as well head somewhere warmer."

Yes, not only was the town small, it was also freezing and constantly snowing. That gave her yet another reason to find the College. Thankfully, that wasn't too hard. It looked completely different from the rest of city in terms of architectural style, which was somewhat similar to High Hrothgar, and was also the only building made of stone, also like High Hrothgar. And seeing as the locals, the few that there were, avoided it like the plague, Merina guessed that the ancient, weathered stone building was the one they were looking for.

To even get in the College, she had to go over a ramp. When she was going to continue walking on through to the building, which was actually quite a bit farther away, she was stopped by an Altmer lady, who moved in her way and said. "Cross the bridge at your own peril. The way is dangerous and gate is closed. You shall not gain entry."

Merina really should have expected this, but beyond bribery, how was she going to gain entrance? She was hardly a mage. "Listen, I really need to enter there's at stake, you need to—"

The lady must have heard this before, because she didn't go along with it. So Merina decided to explain the danger a bit. "Listen, I'm Dragonborn and I need to get in here so I can—"

The lady only seemed to hear the fact that Merina was Dragonborn. "Dragonborn? It's been so long since we've had contact with the Greybeards. Do you really have the power of the Voice? I would be most impressed to see that."

Merina decided to humor her, while not hurting anyone with a Shout, and simultaneously get rid of this horrendous snow. "Lok Vah Koor!"

Strangely enough, it didn't stop the snowstorm. That was odd.

"So you really are Dragonborn! Normally you'd have to show some aptitude with magic, but with you... I feel there is much we can from each other. Welcome to the College, apprentice."

"Oh, no, no! That's not why I'm here! I mean while love to learn and you to learn about Dragonborns, although, admittedly I don't know much—"

Serana saved Merina from her own babbling. "What my friend here is trying to say is that while we would love to compare notes with you, we're actually on a tight schedule. We need an Elder Scroll so that we can stop the dragons."

The lady raised an eyebrow. "It is true there are some here who have spent years studying the accumulated knowledge of the scrolls. But what you seek does not come easily, and can destroy those without a strong will."

"My Thane is more strong willed than you'd originally think from her prattling."

The lady nodded. "You will need to speak with Urag gro-Shub, our librarian. Follow me, I will open the gate to the College."

She began walking and the three followed her. But before they did that, Merina turned to look at Serana and Lydia. "Thank you," she whispered.

They didn't say anything, but Serana smiled and Lydia nodded. Then they all walked after the lady.

Along the bridge, the lady, whose name, Merina learned, was Faralda, occasionally lit some almost bowl things filled with some blue liquid using magic. The path was actually a bit dangerous as some of it had fallen off. But it wasn't too bad and as soon as they got to the building, Faralda gave them directions to the Arcaneum, where she assured them the librarian would be.

True to her word, the Orc librarian was there. He was an old Orc, whose hair was completely white, as was his large beard. His skin was green, almost like that of an Altmer and his clothes were the robes of the other mages in the College. He was drinking something, but put it down when Merina, Lydia, and Serana came over to the desk.

The man glared at them. "You are now in the Arcanaeum, which is my domain. It might as well be my own plane of Oblivion. Disturb it and I will cause you to be torn apart by angry Atronachs. Understood?"

Merina nodded, not wanting to upset this man. Dragonborn or not, she had never liked Atronachs.

"Now, do you require assistance?"

"I know this sounds strange, but I'm looking for an Elder Scroll. Do you happen to have any?" Merina used her most charming smile when she said that last part.

The Orc didn't seem pleased and in fact sounded rather dismissive, but not because of the ludicracy of what she was asking for. "Do you even know what you're asking for? Or are you just someone's errand girl?"

Merina gave him a look. "Of course I know what I'm looking for. There's a reason I came for an Elder Scroll and trust me, I wouldn't be going after it unless I had to. So, do you have one?"

"You think even if I did have one here , I would let you see it? It would be kept under the highest security. The greatest thief in the world wouldn't be able to lay a finger on it."

"What about the Dragonborn?"

At first, Urag rolled his eyes and said, "What about..." Then he realized what she had said. "Wait a minute, you're the one the Greybeards were calling?"

"What, I'm not tall enough for the job?"

He ignored that last bit. "I'll bring you everything we have on them, but it's not much."

As it turned out, "not much" meant two books. Merina and Serana each took one, with Lydia on guard duty. When they'd walked into the College, they'd seen a Thalmor agent. None of them knew if the Thalmor knew that it had been Merina who broke into the Embassy, but they didn't want to take any chances. So Lydia was on discrete guard duty.

Merina chose the book _Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls_ because she thought it might tell her how an Elder Scroll worked or how she was supposed to use it. Of course Merina got the book that was crazy rambling. Two pages in and she wanted to throw it to the ground in frustration. This was getting her no where!

As she was reading her book of insanity in a chair next to a table, and trying not to give into her frustration, she heard the librarian speak from behind her. "Be careful. An Elder Scroll is an instrument of immense knowledge and power. To read an Elder Scroll, a person must have the most rigorously trained mind, or else risk madness. Even so, the Divines usually take the reader's sight as a price."

Paarthurnax had forgotten to mention _that_ little detail! "What?!"

Urag scoffed. "I thought you said you knew what you were asking for."

"Listen, I got a crash course from a dragon, I know a bit of the basics."

The Orc shook his head possibly thinking she was crazy. If Merina had heard what she'd just said from someone back in Kvatch before this all happened, she would have thought it was the ravings of a madman. But Urag did tell her. "It's a reflection of all possible futures and all possible pasts. Each reader sees different reflections through different lenses, and may come away with a very different reading. But at the same time, all of it is true. Even the falsehoods. Especially the falsehoods."

"Okay, now I see why people would go insane." Merina still didn't understand Elder Scrolls at all, but at this point, she doubted she ever would.

Urag then looked over her shoulder and saw which one she was reading. "That's work of Septimus Signus."

Merina turned her neck to look at him. "You know him?"

"Yes. He's the world's master of the nature of Elder Scrolls, but, well… he's been gone for a long while. Too long."

"He's dead?"

Urag shook his head. "Oh no. At least, I hope not. But even I haven't seen him in years and we were close."

"Do you know where he is?" Merina began to have a glimmer of hope. Perhaps finally someone wouldn't just tell her where to go next and instead of telling her where the Elder Scroll they were looking for was, just be able to give it to her. Merina had a bad feeling that it couldn't be that easy, though.

"Became obsessed with the Dwemer. Took off north saying he had found some ancient artifact. Haven't seen him since." Seeing her disappointed expression, he said. "But last I heard, he was somewhere in the ice fields, if you want to try to find him."

Merina thanked him and then it was back out into the cold, snowy weather of Winterhold. Merina bought some gloves and another coat from the local shop and then they managed to pay someone so they could borrow a boat (they didn't have a clue of just _where _in the ice fields this Septimus was, so they weren't going to pay someone to ferry them around and there was no way Merina or Lydia would be able to swim through the icy water). So at about nine in the morning, they were off.

First, they had to get the boat down to the water, which was no easy task seeing as the town of Winterhold was on a cliff, so they had to go down a very narrow path single file while Merina and Lydia were carrying a boat above their heads. Finally, they got it down to the water and all began rowing. Now just to find a direction. For this, Merina called upon the power of the Amulet of Kings. Unlike many of her ancestors, she didn't have the gift of foresight. But Akatosh was the God of Time, so perhaps she could use its power to see where Septimus Signus had gone. It took a couple of minutes of deep breathing and getting calm, which wasn't easy at a time like this, but eventually, she got it. She was able to look back and see the way Septimus went.

"It's this way."

Lydia and Serana looked at her in confusion and skepticism, but Merina assured them it was the way. The two companions looked at each other, both clearly not liking this idea, but they gave in. Merina began telling them which ways to go, even though all she wanted to do was lie down and rest her eyes. Her body was telling her to sleep. Even though she'd slept for hours on the cart ride. And she was starving! Her stomach felt like she hadn't eaten in years.

The pathway involved going around many ice flows and small islands that were covered in snow, but eventually they reached an island that had a boat docked at it that looked much like their own. When they investigated the island, they found a small, round wooden door. Most of Merina really just wanted to go to sleep, more than she had on the boat. She ignored her sleepiness and opened the door. they all crawled through, one at a time, and then went down a ladder.

The door led to a cave made of ice. The path was narrow, so they all had to walk through single file. It was cold in the ice cave, but not as cold as it was outside. The pathway led to a larger ice room with a ramp leading down. Seeing no other option, they went down the ramp and there they found a man. Merina guessed that this was Septimus Signus. Only the man who wrote the _Ruminations_ would be crazy enough to go this far from civilization in the Divines forsaken weather of Winterhold.

Merina decided to skip courtesy and went straight to the point. "I was told you know things about Elder Scrolls."

Septimus Signus turned around to face her. "The Empire. They absconded with them. Or so they think. The ones they saw. The ones they thought they saw."

Merina raised an eyebrow. Luckily, Septimus said something important. "I know of one. Forgotten. Sequestered."

"Where is it?" Merina tried to keep the hope out of her voice. This man was insane after all.

"Here."

It couldn't be that easy.

"Well, here in this plane. Mundus. Tamriel. Nearby, relatively speaking. On the cosmological scale, it's all nearby."

Just as she'd thought. It couldn't be that easy. "Is it here in Skyrim?"

Septimus laughed, which sounded more like a cackle than anything else. "One block lifts the other. Septimus will give you what you want, but you must bring him something in return."

"Fine. What do you want and where is the Scroll?"

Septimus pointed to the strange bronze and blue large contraption behind him. "You see this masterwork of the Dwemer. Deep inside their greatest knowings. Septimus is clever among men, but he is an idiot child compared to the dullest of the Dwemer. Lucky then they left behind their own way to read the Elder Scrolls. In the depths of Blackreach one yet lies. Have you heard of Blackreach? 'Cast upon where Dwemer cities slept, the yearning spire hidden learnings kept.' "

Merina had no idea what he was talking about. She would have asked him what Blackreach was, but she wanted to talk to this man as little as possible. "Where is Blackreach?"

She hoped it was somewhere within civilization (and Skyrim), but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be.

"Under deep. Below the dark. The hidden keep. Tower Mzark. Alftand. The point of puncture, of first entry, of the tapping. Delve to its limits, and Blackreach lies just beyond. But not all can enter there. Only Septimus knows the hidden key to loose the lock to jump beneath the deathly rock."

Merina sighed. "So how do I get in?"

"Two things I have for you. Two shapes. One edged, one round. The round one, for tuning. Dwemer music is soft and subtle, and needed to open their cleverest gates. The edged lexicon, for inscribing. To us, a hunk of metal. To the Dwemer, a full library of knowings. But... empty. Find Mzark and its sky-dome. The machinations there will read the Scroll and lay the lore upon the cube. Trust Septimus. He knows you can know."

At that, he handed her a cube and sphere. Merina would have asked him what they did, but she wasted enough time getting to Septimus in the first place. Besides, she wasn't sure how much of his insanity she could take.

Luckily, Serana said that she knew where Alftland was from her books and Merina was pretty sure that they could form a plan of what to do from what Septimus had said, so they were able to leave. As soon as they got back to the boat, Merina sat down and before she could do anything more, she fell asleep.

She back in Helgen. But not the Helgen that had been destroyed. It was the Helgen just before Alduin came.

Merina saw the carts coming in. She saw Ulfric Stormcloak, Ralof, and the thief, Lokir get off the cart. Then she saw herself get off. Her expression was one of composure, but Merina knew that it could break at any moment. Her eye was slightly twitching and she was shifting her weight from one foot to another, after all.

She heard Hadvar call their names, until he got to her. Once again, she wasn't on the list. For some reason, Merina told him her name was Cassia Ultor. Ultor wasn't out of the ordinary, it was Brother Darion's last, so it was the one she always used. She never used the name Cassia, though. Oh wait, there was that one time...

The scene seemed to speed up a bit, suddenly Merina was grouped with the rebels, waiting for the block. That was when she heard it and remembered what would happen. A loud roar, that almost sounded like thunder echoed across the sky. Everyone in the dream— for a small part of Merina realized that this was nothing but a dream— looked up. Merina tried to call out to them— get out of there while they still could! But nothing seemed to come out of her mouth, though her lips moved.

Merina ran to the people, still trying to scream for them to run. She tried to get Tullius' attention, but it was as if he saw through her. She tried stopping the headsman's axe from killing that one Stormcloak, but it just went through her and cut off the man's head anyway.

Then it was Merina walking up to the block, her face one of barely concealed fear and anger. Merina tried yelling her warning again, but even the Merina of the past did not hear herself. Was there nothing she could do?

The rational part of her realized that this was a dream and that this was the past, there was nothing she could do, but it was not in control. All Merina wanted to do was stop this from happening, to warn them, so that they could run. Was there nothing she could do but watch?

It seemed like there wasn't. The past version of Merina put her head on the block. The Merina of now saw her breath speed up and the other version of her's eyes squeeze shut. There was the sound of a heartbeat and Merina didn't know where that came from, until she realized it was her own. Whether it was from the spectral version or her past self, she couldn't tell. She seemed to be getting closer and closer to her past self, though she hadn't moved a muscle. She had given up trying to warn everyone.

She was so very tired and it felt like there was a very, very heavy weight on her shoulders. It felt like her heart had sunk into the pit of her stomach and her throat was raw. The dream seemed slightly different than how reality had gone, now everything seemed like it was going in slow motion and there was a heavy fog surrounding them all, but no one but Merina seemed to realize that it was there. Just like no one seemed to listen to her when she said that a dragon was coming.

And what could she do to defeat him? He was the oldest of all the dragons. The only thing that could possibly help her was a Shout that seemed more and more impossible to learn and going after an Elder Scroll that felt more and more like a wild goose chase. What could she do? Not when there was fate.

There was that word. _Fate_. She said she didn't believe in it and she meant it. And yet, there was a small part of her, a traitorous part that felt differently. One that whispered in her head constantly. Usually, she could push it away, refuse to listen to it. But there... there was something about this place. In this not-Helgen, denying that little voice seemed almost impossible.

And that was when the dream really changed reality. Alduin's voice came out of the mist, "It is the end of time. You cannot change destiny."

Merina at least managed to spit something out this time. "There's no such thing as destiny!"

She didn't sound very convinced, though, not even to herself.

The dragon laughed, or it sounded like a laugh. It was hard for her to tell with dragons. His eyes seemed dark, but they still glowed. His scales— really his whole body— didn't seem to even look real. They almost appeared to be made of smoke and shadows.

Merina took a shaky breath and pushed herself back to full height, which admittedly wasn't very high. When she spoke, she managed to make her voice seem like she actually believed what she was saying. "Destiny isn't _real_."

The mist seemed to get even denser, seemed to surround Merina even more, the amount going from swirling around her ankles or lower calves, to up her knees. Whatever confidence she had evaporated.

Merina moved back, trying not to fall. She tried taking deep breaths, but the effort failed. Her heart was still beating a mile a minute and her breathing wasn't much better. She went to reach for her sword but it wasn't there. All she could do was keep moving back, one small step after another.

Alduin did not let her flee, his shadow like body stayed the same distance in front of her no matter how far she moved back. "Do you really think that there is anything you can do? All I need do is resurrect dragons. They are many and you are one. What is it that you think you can do?"

The mist seemed to grow thicker and was now full on fog. It had risen to her waist.

"And what arrogance you have to think that you can subvert destiny. That you can change what has been written."

The mist had now risen to her upper stomach. Merina kept moving back, but she was beginning of go faster. 'Keep your pace, Merina. Don't let him know that..."

"But you don't think you can, not really. In your heart of hearts, you know the truth."

The mist kept rising, it was now at her throat.

"If you are the only one who does not believe in destiny, then perhaps it is you who is wrong."

The mist had risen to her cheeks and now she could barely see above it. Helgen had practically vanished and now she could see was Alduin and his mist. She tried to keep moving back, one step away from moving away, but she was frozen in place and all she could hear was what he was saying.

"So, Dovahkiin, what is it that you think you can do? Other than run?"

At that moment, that was all Merina wanted to do. She wanted to run and not hear what Alduin was saying. She didn't want to have to look into those eyes.

Her wish was granted, well, partially, but not in the way she wanted. Now she was enveloped by mist. Alduin was now silent and she could no longer see his shadowy wraith like form, but his eyes were still boring into her. But at least he was silent. And also, now she could move. That was a plus too.

That felt like less of a blessing the more she wandered. The mist was everywhere, Helgen was now a distant memory, and there seemed to be no end. No matter how far she wandered, there was more mist. It felt like she had been there for hours and at the same time, it was only mere minutes.

The entire time she walked, she thought about what Alduin said. Maybe he was right. She was the only one who didn't believe in destiny. Maybe...

She was one, they were many. How could she be right and so many be wrong? Did she, "in her heart of hearts", know the truth? Was she just fooling herself?

Was there really anything she could do to stop Alduin. After all, as Paarthurnax had said, the last Nord heroes had tried, and yet, here Alduin was, ready to destroy the world.

Perhaps, she could stay here. Maybe it would be better. Why go back and give people false hope? There wasn't anything she could do. All Dragonrend would was, well... she supposed that it would "rend" Alduin in some way. She wasn't _exactly_ sure what it would do, but she doubted that it would actually kill him. Then it would have been called "Dragon Death" or something like that. Yes, it would be better for her to just stay here. It would be cruel to give people false hope. And she was tired, very, very tired. All her legs wanted to do was give out and her eyes stung, they just wanted to close. Her head was pounding in protest. She was pretty sure that it was protesting staying up. Merina just wanted to sleep and maybe, maybe, she could rest her eyes here. There was no way out, anyway. What was the point of staying up?

Merina sunk to her knees, but she was only on the ground for a moment. That was because she began to fall into a pitch black pit, falling faster and faster. The shadowy form of Alduin was back, larger than ever. He was still at the top of the pit, but no matter how far she seemed to fall, his eyes were still easy to see. And she never seemed to hit the bottom. She just kept falling and falling.

She fell and fell, and at some point, the completely dark pit started to have a snowstorm. And where there had been no heat or cold, now there was a howling wind. And where her dress had been, there was now the Blades' armor and a sword to go with it. She was now wearing two coats and gloves under her gauntlets. Her boots were lined with fur, she had paid Alvor to do it at some point, she couldn't remember when. And now she was no longer falling in a pit, she was laying in a boat with two Nords standing outside of the boat looking at her, with what could perhaps have been described as worry.

Now she remembered where she was.

She pushed herself up, covering a yawn with her hand as she did. Then she rubbed her eyes. She tried to put the dream out of her mind and for the most part, she succeeded. "Did I miss anything?"

Serana gave her a sardonic smile. "Other than some aggressive horkers? No, not much."

"Good, I wouldn't want to miss out on any of the fun."

She stood up and dusted a bit of snow off her armor. It was a futile effort, the snowstorm seemed to be getting worse by the minute. "We should get back to Winterhold while we can still see."

Lydia and Serana looked at each other for the moment, with an unspoken conversation said in a glance. Merina wanted to ask what it was that they weren't saying, but now wasn't the time. First, they had to get the boat back. Merina and Lydia hoisted it back up and Serana walked behind them to make sure nothing attacked. Luckily for them, nothing did. Not even ice wolves wanted to be out in this kind of weather.

It was a harder trip back up than it was down. The snow was thrown in their faces, well Merina and Lydia's, Serana was blocked from the worst of it because of the giant boat, and the wind made it even worse. Merina's coat and gloves weren't blocking out the excruciating cold of the farthest north any mostly sane human being would go.

Merina could see why everyone had left Atmora. She could barely stand the cold as it was.

They finally made it back up to the almost ghost town, returned the boat, and managed to tramp back through the now almost a foot thick of snow to the inn. They couldn't get to Alftland in this weather, not without risking probable death. Well, Merina would definitely die. Lydia might, but she seemed able to endure any weather. No matter where they went, Lydia seemed able to take any weather without any visible change. Merina envied that. But she wasn't sure that even Lydia could make it through the snow storm. Merina wasn't sure about Serana though. She didn't seem to be endangered by cold or snow, though she didn't seem to like it. Maybe it had something to do with her being a vampire. Merina forgot about that from time to time, except when Serana would disappear for a few hours to feed on the local wildlife. Either way, their resistance to the cold didn't really matter at this point, as they would just get lost in the amount of snow.

So now, they were sitting in their rented room. Well, Lydia and Serana were sitting. Merina was pacing. Her steel boots were clacking on the wood floor and her armor slightly jangled. She paced from one end of the room to the other and then back. She did that on repeat for a bit and then stopped at the window.

It was nice to have a glass window, especially with Winterhold's weather. She wouldn't want that flying in. The glass was apparently from one of the older buildings that had been abandoned after the collapse.

Merina twirled a bit of hair that had fallen from her braid and then pulled the braid out entirely. She leaned against the windowsill, just looking out into the town. Well, less the town and more the snowstorm, as that was all she could see.

"My Thane, would you stop tapping your foot?"

Merina turned her head to look at Lydia. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I didn't realize that I was doing it."

Merina used to tap her foot all the time, but she had finally gotten herself out of the habit when she was fourteen or maybe fifteen. She hadn't done that nervous tick in years. She stilled her movement and then turned to face the two of them. "I guess it's this snowstorm," She ran a hand through her hair as she continued, "I just— we're so _close_, I can _feel _it!"

Merina paced over to one of the two beds and sat down next to Serana. Merina rested her chin on her hand. Then she moved her head back up. "Maybe there is some cosmic destiny fate crap and it's telling me how _useless_ this all is."

Merina felt Serana's hand on her shoulder and while it did nothing to help that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach, she didn't move it away. She turned her head to look at Serana. Serana was smiling at her with what appeared to be an attempt at comfort. It didn't really work though, Serana's face and her smile in general looked completely unaccustomed to the gesture. Serana's smiles were always like that though. Serana moved her hand away. "Merina, you said it yourself. There's no such thing as destiny."

Merina folded her arms across her chest and looked at the floor. "You didn't seem to think that way at Sky Haven Temple or with Paarthurnax. What changed your mind?"

Merina looked back at Serana, only to see her looking at the floor like Merina was a moment ago. "Well, let's just say that maybe we both have our own reasons for not wanting to believe in destiny. Just leave it at that."

Merina nodded and sighed. She slowly stood back up, about to start pacing again. Lydia wasn't going to let that happen. From her chair, she said, "My Thane, you should rest. You will need your strength."

Merina looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Destiny or no destiny, we are walking to Alftland as soon this snowstorm lets up. I doubt you want to be exhausted from wearing a hole into the floor.

Lydia was right, though Merina wouldn't admit it. Sighing again, she sat down on the empty bed. Later, Merina and Lydia bought some dinner from the innkeeper and they and Serana, who was with them, but wasn't eating, sat down. Merina and Serana tried making idle chit chat, but both their minds were elsewhere. Merina didn't know what exactly Serana was thinking, but from the distant, troubled expression on her face, it couldn't have been good. Merina was, naturally, thinking about getting the Elder Scroll. How would she know what it was when she saw it? She had no idea what an Elder Scroll even looked like. None of the descriptions she had gotten of them were very helpful. With all the metaphysical magic stuff about the Elder Scrolls, did they even _look_ like scrolls? And how would she know where it was kept? She was so eager to just get away from Septimus Signus, she had forgotten about that tiny detail. It was too late to go back though, especially with the snowstorm they now had to wait through.

Soon they went back off into their room for some sleep. Lydia took the first watch. Merina had offered, but both Lydia and Serana waved off her protests of how she had more rest and that the two of them probably needed it more than her at the moment. Serana just gave her a look of utter "Yeah, sure we do" and Lydia made a sort of scoffing sound. Merina gave in and got out of her armor and crawled into the bed.

She was immediately cold, even under the fur blankets. She was now wearing a thin undershirt and pants that she had worn when leaving Kvatch. Even with her coats and gloves, it wasn't exactly conducive to bring warm. She curled up and shivered a bit, but eventually fell asleep.

It wasn't a comfortable sleep. The nightmare was back. This time, she wasn't in Helgen. She was back somewhere she had been before. She couldn't quite remember _exactly _where she was, only that it was somehow very familiar.

She was somewhere in the mountains, the sun was just starting to rise and the sky was still mostly dark. It was snowing, but not very hard, and there was no wind. The smell of pine trees was everywhere, though Merina couldn't see any of the trees that had to be making that smell. And... there was something else in the air too. It was the smell of something burning. Was it wood?

That was then the sound that was like the crack of thunder against the sky started up. Merina knew immediately what that meant. But her legs were frozen in place, as was most of her body. Which didn't even look feel like her body and when she looked down, she saw that she was right. Well, mostly right. It wasn't the body of the current twenty one year old Merina. No, it was from her childhood. Somehow, Merina knew what she looked like, even though there was no where to look at her reflection.

Her face, while chubbier from youth, was still thin and pointy. Her hair was a bit lighter back then, more of a golden color than it was now, and longer, her thick, straight hair went down to about her elbows. It usually would have been pulled back and braided, but for some reason, it wasn't. Her nose was pointy, it always had been and there was no getting around that fact. She was pretty sure that she was about ten, though she was shorter than she remembered being.

It wasn't long until the inevitable happened and Alduin was in front of her. The mist had return, swirling around her ankles and all around her. Alduin himself was surrounded by darkness, his large form blocked out the sun. His body was once again seemingly made of smoke, but there was so much smoke in the air, it was hard to tell. It was hard to tell his wings from his body or even from the normal smoke itself. Everytime she almost got a good look at them, they seemed to swirl into an even more monstrous form.

His red eyes were the only distinct thing she could see. They were... frightening, for lack of a better word. They seemed to stare right into her very soul. It was unnerving. And there was a light to them and it wasn't a good one. It was like a... a cat, playing with a mouse before it was finally put it out of its misery. Or one of those people who would use the punishment of a thousand cuts. She had read about that being an ancient punishment to make someone "truly feel like he is dying". It had always terrified her when she was younger. She shuddered just thinking about it.

And the mist rose up to her calves.

Alduin didn't even really look like what she remembered him looking like, not like he had at Helgen or Kynesgrove or in her last dream. He seemed more serpentine, slithering around the mountain side they were on, through the shadows, so that, if she couldn't see his eyes, she could not see where he was, she could only hear the ever present beating of those awful wings. Why did they make that sound? No other dragon's wings were so loud. Then again, no other dragon was so gargantuan in size.

"You will fail."

Merina refused to listen to the dragon and she covered her ears with her hands. It may have been— okay, it _was_— childish, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was not be able to listen. And she didn't think she could shut Alduin up. So she covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut.

It reminded her of that time at the Western Watchtower. The dragon had been much smaller, its wings much quieter, but when she was thrown out of the tower, she had wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and cover her ears. But, that time, she hadn't. Maybe it was because she hadn't known what she knew now. Maybe it was because at the time, she had thought that she could at least stop the problem. She hadn't known that there really wasn't much hope, if there really was any...

No! She could _not_ think like that! She was looking for an Elder Scroll. It would have the information she needed. It had to.

"You know this, though you refuse to admit it."

She didn't know that because... because there was a chance! The Elder Scroll would tell her what she needed, it would, and if she even doubted that for a second, then...

'Get it together, Merina, you need to—'

"You actually think there's something you can do? Or are you merely attempting to convince yourself?"

She swore that if the dragon could, he would be smirking.

"Well listen well, oh _mighty _Dovahkiin. Your... friends. I will tear them limb from limb while you watch. I will burn your mother alive. That old fool Esbern can speak of all the prophecies he likes while I flay him until there is nothing left but bones."

Once again, Merina tried backing up. Once again, it didn't work.

"Everyone you have ever loved— that old priest, your childhood friend, the farm assistant— everyone you have ever _spoken _too. I will kill them. And when all that is left is your grief and the fiery ruins of this world, then," He paused, "Then I will kill you."

Maybe if Merina had been in her armor with her trusty sword at her belt and her bow and its quiver at her back, she could have fought. But she didn't. She was a small girl with no weapon in a dress, while made thick enough to withstand the cold, wasn't armor to deflect the blows of a dragon. Even one made of shadows. And even if she did, what could she do. This wasn't some killable creature, this wasn't some real dragon, which was at least made of flesh and scales. She couldn't do anything.

So she ran, faster and faster, in an attempt to not only escape Alduin, but the ever rising mist that had now risen to her waist. She kept running, but she could hear those wings, beating against the sky, coming closer and closer. She could feel her heart and her breathing speeding up.

'Come on, come on, just a little faster, just a little—'

But just as she was thinking that, the landscape inexplicably changed from that of a mountain to a bog. It looked like the Morthal swamp, but her question was why she was even there. She didn't get an answer, however, as through the mist, it was difficult to see the ground and she tripped and fell in one of the many little inlets of water.

She managed to push herself out of the water, but now Alduin was in front of her. The smoke that surrounded him seemed to be getting larger and larger and it was slowly enveloping her. The mist that now reached her elbows was like shackles that bound her into place.

But she couldn't fall down. Not this time. She couldn't just— just give in like that! She might not actually be able to get rid of him, but she certainly wasn't going to let him have the pleasure of seeing her give into her—

No. She wasn't going to say it. Or think it. Thinking or saying acknowledged it. Acknowledging it made it real. And she wasn't… she wasn't…

"But you are, aren't you? Just because you refuse to say it doesn't make it go away."

It was getting hard to breathe with all the smoke around her. Merina could barely hear what Alduin was saying through her coughing fits. Not only could she barely hear anything, she was having trouble breathing.

"Do you think your father is safe, simply because he is dead?"

Yes, her father was dead, why would he bring that up? Why would that make him _safe_?

"You forget who I am, little joor. I am Alduin, the World Eater, he consumes both the living _and the dead_. If you think that there will be refuge in death, you are mistaken."

'Keep standing, Merina, just keep standing.'

"Your misery will not end when you die. I will consume their souls after they and you have died. I will make you watch, make you know that is there is nothing you can do to save them. But I will not take your soul. No, I will leave you alone. Bound to your misery and your grief for all eternity."

With that knowledge, with the mist that surrounded her, and the smoke that made it nigh impossible to breathe, Merina could no longer stand. She fell to the ground, the mist and smoke swirling together, with Alduin's horrible ruby eyes being the only other thing she could see.

At that, she woke up with a start, eyes wide and searching the room, her heart still beating like she had just run a marathon. It took a moment for her to realize where she was again, for her breathing and everything else to go back to normal.

'It was just a dream. It was just a _dream_.'

She pushed her upper body up and looked around. At first it was impossible to see anything, but once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that Serana wasn't in the bed and, when she turned to look, Lydia wasn't in her chair.

Merina frowned and was about to get up to look for them, when she heard voices outside the door. It was Serana and Lydia, that she could tell, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. What she could hear, however, was their tone. Neither sounded anything close to what could remotely be called happy.

Merina would have gotten up and asked them what in Oblivion they were talking about, but she had just woken up and was groggy. And _tired_. She had slept for what must have been hours and yet somehow she was more than she was when she fell asleep. Her mind may have been wanting to get up, but her body wasn't having it. Before she could do anything to prevent it, she had already fallen asleep again.

She had the dream again, the same one as before. Well, mostly the same. It was the same scenario, with Alduin and the mist. She was back at Helgen, but the dream couldn't seem to decide if it wanted her to be a child or an adult. She kept flickering in and out of the two. But that really was the only difference. The things the dream version of Alduin said were the same. And, again, they worked. She kept failing, over and over.

It was mid morning by the time Merina finally woke up, about nine. She was going to berate Lydia and Serana for not waking her up sooner, but thought better of it. Actually, Merina was a bit touched. But she wasn't about to tell them that.

The snowstorm had stopped, thank the Divines. Merina had been worried that it would carry on longer. They would have to leave quickly though, before another one came. Before they did, Merina bought a cloak for herself and a thick coat for Lydia. Lydia might not have been complaining, but Merina could tell that she was at least a little cold.

With that, they set off for Alftland.

Author's Note: Originally, going to Alftland and Blackreach was going to be in this chapter, but it just got too long. Thanks to whoever read, please leave a review. Any grammar and/or spelling mistakes are my own, please point them out if you see them! As always, I don't own the Elder Scrolls, any of the characters, and dialogue you see. I hope you enjoyed!


	12. Elder Knowledge

_"Blackreach today is an incredible sign of the greatness of the past. Once a great city of the Dwarves and then the home of the monstrous and frightening Falmer, it is now empty, only to be rarely inhabited by the aspiring alchemist or Dwemer historian. We can never know exactly what Merina thought when she found this place, however we can guess. She was likely amazed by the scope and size of the place, as all who see Blackreach today are. She was also, unlike today's scholars, forced to go the long way to reach this site, so the appreciation and wonder was likely even greater."_

—_Life of Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

Serana was complaining about the weather. Once again. "Ugh. This must be that famous Skyrim weather.

"Well, Serana, it could be worse. You could be like our Thane here, she who is incapable of becoming warm."

Merina mockingly put a hand over her heart. "It's not that I'm incapable, it's that Skyrim is a frozen wasteland of a tundra! Why, back in Cyrodiil, we never had snowstorms like the ones here. No, the weather was always nice there. Nothing like this monstrosity."

In truth, that was a bit of a stretch. True, it was snowing, but it wasn't a full on snowstorm. Not yet, at least.

Serana rolled her eyes. "Yes, Merina, we all know how much better Cyrodiil is than Skyrim from your tales of hero worship."

At almost the same time as Serana said that, Lydia snorted and said, "Frozen wasteland of a tundra?"

"I say that with love."

But Serana's words were weighing on Merina's mind. Even if Serana really was just senselessly complaining about something that didn't even affect her, they should be worried about the weather. Merina had learned from experience that this part of Skyrim was prone to rapid weather changes. A snowstorm could come at any time.

The way to Alftland was snowy. Very snowy. The entire time, Merina was either hiking over the damn stuff or falling in a snow bank. And half the time it was actually snowing. Luckily it wasn't anything like a snowstorm, but the longer they were out in the cold, the more Merina worried. This was all obviously leading up to another snowstorm. If they were still outside...

Thankfully, they weren't. After about a week of feeling like they were wandering aimlessly, they finally found Alftland. It took a couple tries to actually get to the place, which involved rock climbing, giving up on said rock climbing, and then finally simply going around and then up.

Alftland itself wasn't what Merina would think of as impressive. It was a stone tower that covered with snow that was connected to the ground by an unsafe looking bridge. The three went up to it, as they noticed it had a brass gate, but, unfortunately for them, it was locked. There was a lever inside, however, Merina wasn't sure what it would do or where it would lead. Best to find a straight path and not get herself too lost.

Across the dangerous looking rope bridge they had used to get across to the tower, there was a rickety old building and Merina was much more interested in that. While more worn down, it looked far newer than the older Dwarven tower. There was nothing inside, but there was another small, once again rickety, building across from it on the left, so they tried there.

That was where they needed to go. There was another bridge, but this one went much farther down. It too was rickety, so they all walked very lightly, one at a time. Merina did not like the looks of the very long drop to the icy rocks below. There were a couple of stone ledges that Merina hated going across. Every time a pebble or two would be pushed off from the rock by the wind, Merina's breathing would speed up. Then it was across another, once again rickety (when Merina became empress she was going to put in some building and structure laws. Somebody could get killed!). Once they got across it, it was into a cave, enclosed by a broken Dwemer tower.

It was eerie in the cave, which could only be described glacial. They were surrounded on both sides by large, almost luminescent, walls of ice that formed the cave. It was completely silent, save for their footsteps, their breathing, which came out as mist, and an odd dripping sound. Merina stuck close to the other two, right in between them, with Lydia at her left and Serana at her right.

"Frightened of caves, Merina?"

But Serana's voice didn't sound very mocking. It actually sounded a little high pitched, at least for Serana's voice. Lydia didn't seem comfortable either. She didn't say anything, but she seemed as inclined as Merina did to move away from the group.

As they went down yet another rickety bridge, there were more signs of people recently being in the cave. There was a cart and a couple of support beams to make sure the cave didn't collapse. There were a couple of still lit lanterns on the floor, their light dancing across the walls of the cave, and some boxes as well. Merina picked one up, not sure how much light there was going to be later on. There were some stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Merina hoped they wouldn't fall on her or the other two.

The cave got even creepier when they got through that section. There were knocked over cooking supplies, a stick with a rusty pot still on it, and the remains of what was probably once a fire. They kept going through the hall and it just got worse. There were huge pools of dried blood on the ground and more broken supplies. A wind had kicked up.

They went down farther into the cave. There were more wooden, man made structures and lanterns. The walls of the cave seemed narrower here, almost like they were going to move and squeeze the three of them into a pulp. But that was silly.

They went down a little further and gone were the man made structures, replaced by much sturdier looking and older Dwemer ones. They walked a little farther and they found water coming out of a broken pipe. Merina just stopped and stared in amazement. She had heard of the genius of the Dwarves, but this...

She turned a little to see Serana doing the same. Lydia was hardly gaping like the other two were, but she too was curious and impressed.

But they had to keep going.

They went a bit farther down and the Dwemer buildings seemed a little less broken down now. The right wall was still that of the icy cave, but other than that, it looked like they'd been transported in time.

They found a little table with some research notes, a book, a soul gem, and some broken down machine. Merina wasn't sure what it was, but she could tell from the brass that it was Dwarven. Serana took the soul gem, which she informed them, was full and Merina took the book, which was on Dwarves.

There was a gate, but it was locked and Merina's Unrelenting Force did nothing to move it. She considered using the amulet, but decided against it. She didn't want to waste her energy and besides, she wasn't doing a very good job of keeping her secret. Anyways, she didn't even know if that was the right way. At the moment, they were following the footsteps of what looked to be researchers. Maybe they could find that group and get the directions they needed. And Merina knew that if people were going into a Dwemer ruin, they never locked the way out.

So they continued on pathway on the left. As they were walking through, some sort of spider contraption jumped out at them. Merina quickly destroyed it with her sword, but it was still unnerving to see something that was obviously Dwarven technology still work and, more worryingly, try to kill them.

They kept going through the passage and then went up a steep ramp. There was a broken pipe and column lying on it, but beyond that, nothing dangerous. That is, until they got to the top. Again, they were attacked by one of those spider machines, but this time Lydia shut it, cleanly cutting it in two with her blade.

The next part of the ruin had more cave in it, the icy walls were back with a vengeance. They went down a passage and that was when they saw a Khajiit. He was raving about hidden skooma. He quickly finished his rant and noticed the group of dragon slayers. He cried out , "What? Who is this? Another of the smooth skins looking for food? But these three weren't trapped here with us..."

He then somehow got the notion that Merina had stolen his skooma and attacked her. As he was wearing no armor, Merina quickly killed him without much of a fight. They were then quickly attacked by another spider like machine. Where were those things coming from?

They passed some Dwemer machinery on their way down, but nothing else. In the small almost room, they found more blood and the body of another Khajiit that could have been the brother. He was creepily laid on a sleeping roll as if he was only sleeping.

When they left that room, they were most certainly in a Dwemer ruin. Merina could hear the harsh pounding of machinery that still some how worked after thousands of years. They found a journal that mentioned something about an "Animonculory" and screaming. Merina didn't like the sound of that.

They walked through the only passage forward to find a large Dwemer room. They walked up on a small platform only to be attacked by another Dwemer machine. This one wasn't a spire and was harder to kill. In the confusion, Merina dropped the lantern into the oil and the three of them barely managed to avoid being set on fire. The only plus was that the metal of the machine seemed to have weakened over the years and the fire began to melt it. The three of them hastily moved onward.

They went through a narrow hall. The cave seemed a distant memory now, there was no snow or wind anymore. Somehow, this was almost worst. Merina hoped the Elder Scroll was close.

The hallway led out to a larger room. This time Merina and the other two were on the alert. They weren't going to be taken by surprise by yet another automaton. They each gripped their respective weapons tightly.

It was a good thing they had. Two more spiders jumped out at them, but they were even more easily disposed of now that the three weren't surprised by them.

They went through the room, avoiding stepping in oil and cobwebs as they did, until they reached a brass door. It looked very much like the ones Merina had seen in Markarth a couple years ago. Then again, that was the most intact known Dwemer city.

They went through the door, not sure what to expect. It was a thin hall that had a small set of steps leading up to a gate and another hallway. By the gateway there was a chest with a nice amount of money and some oil. Serana took that, saying it was useful for alchemy. Merina didn't know how it could be, but she didn't protest and put that in the bag for her friend too.

There was another spider, but it was easily killed before it could get close by one of Serana's ice spikes.

The Dwemer machinery was still working on the ceiling of the hall and there were bits of steam around the floor. In a small room, Merina found two really good healing potions and she took those too. She never knew when she was going to need those.

They went through the hall. There was a set of stairs going up to what was probably another hallway and there was a door on the right. It was was locked, but Merina easily solved that problem. Unfortunately, there was another automaton, like the one on the platform. They managed to destroy it, but it was more difficult than the spiders. Really, there swords weren't having much of an effects, so Merina had the other two move back. Then she used her Unrelenting Force. The creature smashed against the wall, breaking.

They went up the stairs and Meirna's suspicions were confirmed. It was another hall. It was different than the other two they had just gone through. As soon as they went up the stairs, there were these effigies carved into the wall. Merina supposed they had to be the Dwemer.

"I always wanted to know what the Dwemer looked like. I heard they were like elves, but with beards."

Merina turned to look at Serana. "Well I suppose now you know. And yeah, they were actually a type of elves. I read that they really were a normal height. Can't remember where they got the name "Dwarves" though."

They kept going, their boots clanking against the stone. They had to destroy yet another spider and then they went left.

There were more, much larger pipes in the room, which was also much bigger than the hall. As it turned out, the part they were going through was a balcony. There were smaller pipes pushing across some of it, so the three had to jump over those. It looked very odd for Merina and Lydia, who were in heavy, steel armor, but it looked effortless and natural for Serana.

There were two more spiders, but Merina simply used her Unrelenting Force on one and then Lydia cut the other in half. The three then easily went across the rest of the balcony. That was when they reached a door.

"Should we go through, Merina?" Serana was standing behind Merina, next to Lydia, when she said that.

Merina turned to look at her. "Yes."

Merina didn't know how she knew it, but somehow, she knew that was the way. So they went through the beautiful brass door.

Merina and Lydia started coughing the moment they went in. The room was green tinged and there seemed to be something in the air. Between coughs, Merina managed to push out, "Let's get out of here."

They ran to the door at the end of the hall. Luckily, the mist, and therefore, the coughing, was gone.

The room had a set of stairs and another mechanical spider. The spider was dealt with quickly and they all went up the stairs.

Of course, there was another automaton and a spider. Merina once again used her favorite Shout to deal with the automaton and Serana destroyed the spider. But that was when Merina noticed the blue egg sac.

She walked over and bent down to investigate. Unfortunately, her suspicions were proven correct. "This isn't good."

"What is it, my Thane?"

Merina turned her head to look at the other two. "See this? This is a Chaurus egg sack. And where there are Chaurus, there are Falmer. We need to be on our guard. Walk quietly. The Falmer may not be able to see, but their hearing is incredible."

The other two nodded and they continued on. There was another set of stairs, with a trap in the middle that they easily avoided. The passage had more egg sacks. This wasn't good.

There was a closed gate, but Merina simply pulled the lever next to it and it easily opened.

They walked out onto a walkway. When Merina looked over the sides, she saw a very long drop. Even more reason to be extra careful.

She saw one of the spiders hiding in a small inlet of a room, but one arrow in the right spot took care of it before it was a problem. They went across the walkway that led to a ramp. The ramp winded down and the three of them walked down, slowly and silently. Merina had the odd feeling that they weren't alone.

When they got down the ramp, but before they went onto the balcony, Merina looked over the edge. She saw a spider far below. There seemed to be a shadow on the wall, one that looked almost human, but when Merina blinked and then opened her eyes again, it was gone. Maybe she was just seeing things, but she had a feeling she wasn't. "We should stay close together."

They walked onto the balcony, but there wasn't any door or gate they could go through. The only way was through jumping. Merina looked down the edge of the balcony. They wouldn't be killed by the fall, in fact, they probably wouldn't even be injured. She turned to the other two, who seemed to know what she was asking. Lydia and Serana looked at each other and then nodded. They walked to the balcony's edge together and then jumped.

Just as Merina thought, they were fine. While the impact stung, none of them had any broken bones. However, Merina now saw something at the floor she hadn't before. There was a dead body, with blood surrounding it. And the body was next to a Falmer arrow and axe.

Merina didn't have any time to warn her friends before they were attacked. A Falmer came charging at them with a bow. Merina quickly pulled out her dagger and threw it into the creature's chest.

They were all breathing heavily, but there was no time to spare. Falmer rarely lived alone. They started running down another walkway, with Merina only stopping to pull her dagger out of the Falmer's corpse, which was winding down the large cavern. Almost immediately, they found more Falmer.

Merina didn't give them a chance to attack. "Fus Ro Dah!"

The Falmer were pushed off the pathway, their horrible screams echoing throughout the cavern. Merina didn't have time for pity though and they kept running. They had almost gotten to a room when they ran into two more Falmer. Lydia's shield kept the arrows from harming the two of them. Serana used one of her ice spells and Merina used her bow. That quickly took care of the problem.

They dashed through the door into the room only to encounter more Falmer. But a few well placed arrows from Merina and Lydia stopped them in their tracks.

Merina could feel her heart pounding, from exertion or... something else, she wasn't sure. They kept running through the room, avoiding the Falmer tent and pen.

It was a hall, surrounded by brass gates on one side and wall on the other. They rushed through the hall to a set of stairs. There were, of course, more Falmer. The one closest to them, however, got itself killed by running into a fire trap. Merina remembered the one time she had fought Falmer before. Sometimes they could be incredibly clever and at other times beyond stupid.

The other two Falmer that ran at them, however, weren't that idiotic. They ran around the trap. However, when the two went up the stairs, Merina Fus Ro Dahed them into the trap. While they were burning to death, the three ran. Merina would have killed them to put them out of their misery, but they didn't have time and more could be coming.

There were some alchemical ingredients on the wall and while Merina and Lydia were running to the door, Serana ran for those. Just as they went through, Merina realized that Serana wasn't following. "Serana! Come on!"

Serana quickly grabbed the last of the ingredients and threw them into Merina's bag. Then they were back on the move.

The door led to a set of stairs and of course, there were Falmer. There were three of them, one for each of the three. Unfortunately, two had magic. Lydia managed to block their lightning spells with her shield, but if they wanted to go on the offense, something had to change.

Merina used her Shout and blew the three Falmer back into the wall. There was a horrible cracking sound and none of the three got up. Merina and the other two just started running again. They stopped, however, when they saw an odd sort of room.

It was circular, with a lever in the middle.

"Merina, do you think that's the way to go?"

Merina looked at it a little longer and then remembered something that Septimus had said. _The point of puncture_. "No. I think we're supposed to go down. I have a feeling this goes up. See the rust here? Remember how we saw something like this before we went in the cave? I think this goes up and connects to it. Somehow it gets all the way back up. We have to keep going down."

They kept going through, a little slower, all of them beginning to feel tired. When they found a door at the end they spotted two other... interesting things. One was a dead body, probably part of the research team. The other was the amount of stuff on a table against the wall. There were alchemical ingredients, a quill, wine, and... skooma?

That must have been where the crazy Khajiit's skooma was going. The Falmer had stolen it. Serana and Merina quickly put the ingredients into their bag, not wanting to let the ingredients go to waste, and then they were off again.

The gate, unfortunately, had a cave in, so they couldn't go that way. But there was more of the room and they soon found an exit.

It was a door, with a dead Falmer by it. That was... odd. Then it was back to going down a winding ramp. This one was much nicer and easier, and it quickly led to a nice set of safer stairs.

There was a Falmer and a Frostbite spider, but they were easily taken care of. Then it was down a small passageway to a door. Merina opened it, hoping this one wouldn't have noxious fumes like one the ones they had gone through a while back had.

It didn't, instead going to a narrow passage and a long set of stairs that led to a door at the bottom. There was a Falmer trap they easily avoided and then it was through the door.

The door led to a large room that was musty and dark. There was a knocked over gate. Someone had been here before the three of them. Probably the research group, or what was left of it.

They avoided a couple traps before being found by a Falmer. But it was easily taken care of by the three of them.

They only had to walk a couple more steps before seeing another bronze door. There was a still lit torch in front of it, puttering its last few flames. They had to be getting close to... well, wherever the other group was. If they were even still alive.

Seeing no other choice, they went through the door. It lead to a blue tinged, misty cavern that appeared to be a Dwemer city. The pretty image was ruined by the fact that the Falmer were there.

Of course there were Falmer. Couldn't just have a nice beautiful thing without _something_ monstrous trying to kill them. That would be too easy. That would be too kind of the gods.

There were two of Falmer, but they too were easily killed.

The building that they had seen, however, was kept shut by a spiky gate. So Merina and company went up the set of stairs right by the way they came in.

On the balcony that the stairs led to, there was a chest and a lever. Merina investigated the chest first and found a pretty gold and sapphire ring and a piece of gold. She took that and then pulled the lever.

The gate predictably went down. They all walked through and walked across a platform. However, an enormous automaton came out of the wall. It took all their combined strength to defeat the thing. But when they finally destroyed it, Merina found a key on it. Her knowledge of old elven languages was weak at best but she recognized the words "lift" and "Alftland", which were right next to each other. So the Dwarves had something called an Alftland Lift.

What in Oblivion was that?

Even though she didn't know what a "lift" was, Merina took the key anyway. Perhaps it would be useful. They walked up the small set of stairs and to a gate, which was unlocked. The three of them weren't alone though. There were to people who were talking to each other with their weapons drawn. Merina heard the woman speaking first.

"Sulla, let's just get out of here. Hasn't there been enough death?"

The man didn't seem convinced. "Oh, of course you want me to leave. Just waiting for me to turn my back. So you can have all the glory for yourself!"

They had to be all that was left of the research team. While the two of them started fighting, Merina, Lydia, and Serana slipped by unnoticed to the mechanism the two fighters had been originally standing in front of.

There was a sort of hole. in front of it and seeing no other option, and also not wanting to be around whoever won that fight, Merina went up to it.

Septimus had said she would need something round.

She pulled out the little sphere he had given her and tentatively, but quickly, she put it in. It fit like a glove and parts of the floor moved to reveal a set of stairs.

That was quite convenient.

The three went down and then went through a door at the bottom. Merina had a feeling, a really, really, strong feeling, that they were close.

The place they went into took Merina's breath away. It was beyond beautiful, the cave's ceiling glimmered like the night's sky. There was mist in around the ground and across the the beautiful blue lake water. The buildings were that of the classical Dwemer style. The plant life— how did this place even have plants so far underneath the ground anyway?— seemed unearthly. They were blue and glowing. The only downside was the musty air, but that had been in the air since they had descended through the cave.

The image was ruined by the amount of monsters that were in the place, specifically Chaurus and more Falmer as they raced along the paths, trying to find the way to... well, wherever the Elder Scroll was. But when they got to a tower with a bronze Dwemer head sculpture on it that was across a bridge, Merina knew they were in the right place. They walked across the bridge and opened to the door.

It led to a circular room with only a lever in it. Could this be the "lift" like the one the key had been talking about? Seeing no harm in trying, Merina pulled the lever.

The ground lurched and Merina thought they were about to have a cave in, when the circular ground they were standing on went up. The three of them rose up onto another floor of the tower. It took a moment for Merina to get up, as the lurching had knocked her, her and only her, to the ground, and make sure that she wasn't going to puke.

Merina didn't have time to wonder how in Oblivion that worked, or to quell the still present nausea she felt, she just ran through the room and through another door. She immediately knew that the Scroll was there. She could feel it, almost hear it.

The room was almost entirely filled up by a brass circular thing with bluish green almost disks on it. Merina walked around it to find a ramp that led up.

It looked like something out of an astronomy tower. There were more disks all held up above the circular device. But Merina had farther to go. She kept going up the ramp to a control thing, perhaps?

There were five almost button things and Merina put the cube in the empty one. Septimus said he needed her to enshrine the thing and it was the least she could do for him.

Not knowing which buttons to press, she used the amulet to get the functions. When she did that, the optical devices moved and a sort of crystal, we'll give crystals, were brought down. The large one went down even farther, turned sideways, and opened to reveal what could only be the Scroll.

Merina jumped off the balcony, too excited to go back down the ramp. She flashed across the sphere and up to the open crystal. She pulled the Scroll out as delicately, while being as quickly as she could and making sure not to open it. She remembered that book _Effects of the Elder Scrolls_. She had read it at night around their meager fire in an attempt to delay her nightmares.

The Elder Scroll itself was large, it had to be carried in two hands and Merina still felt like it might fall. It heavy, heavier than she had expected, and yet, at the same tight, lighter than anything else she had ever held. Every few seconds, she had to wonder whether she was holding something or not. It was encased in gold and had beautiful, flawless amethysts at the end adorning it. Going through the Elder Scroll as a way to hold it was dark mahogany wood with golden decorations.

Merina frowned and narrowed her eyes. Then she turned to look at Serana. More specifically, the canister that she was carrying on her back. True, this one seemed a little different looking, Merina supposed. At the each of the ends of the canister, there were red garnets. It was a bit bigger, but not much. But there was the same mahogany wood and the same gold encasing.

Merina walked forward slightly with a confused frown on her face. "Serana?" She managed to keep most of the confusion (and, although she wouldn't never admit it, not even to herself, suspicion) out of her voice in exchange for having a rather brusque and blunt tone.

Serana turned to look at her with something akin to guilt on her face. And something else as well. Worry, yes, that was it. Merina walked forward a bit more and as she did, she started speaking again, in that same blunt voice, thought a bit more of the confusion had slipped in. "Is— is that an Elder Scroll?"

Serana seemed to close inward, her posture (which was usually completely straight in a regal sort of way) seemed to cave in, she seemed far smaller. Her face fell and she looked not hurt— which had been Merina's first thought, but when she thought for a second, that was entirely illogical to the situation and Serana didn't look like that when she was hurt. And upset didn't quite cover it either, though she clearly looked it. It didn't even seem like she was upset with Merina or Lydia, it was something else entirely.

Merina immedietly put her hands out in a conciliatory gesture, though with the fact that Serana was just staring at the floor, it probably wasn't noticed. "Listen, Serana, I'm sorry. It's none of my business. Just forget I said anything."

Serana looked up from the floor, her eyes darting from Merina, to Lydia, and then back to the ground again. "No— no, you're right to wonder. The truth is it's—"

With that, she looked up for a split second. Her eyes had expression in them, one that was so open and vulnerable, Merina wanted to look away. She didn't though.

"The truth is it's..."

Merina didn't prod her. Clearly, this was something that was painful for Serana. And besides, Merina hardly had room to complain about someone having secrets. It really was time she told them some of hers.

"It's—" Serana had held Merina's gaze, but in that moment, she suddenly, slightly, shook her head and looked down again. She looked down and stepped back, looking even smaller than before. Her voice quieted. "It's nothing. Well, yes, it's an Elder Scroll. But it's not important. Not right now."

Merina simply nodded and walked next to Serana. She thought about putting a hand on Serana's shoulder, but she didn't know if that was what Serana needed. Or wanted.

Gods, why had she always been so bad at comforting people? She never knew what to say or do and always looked like a callous, unfeeling, horrible person. And, going with the pattern, she didn't know what to do this time.

Well, there was no harm in putting a hand on Serana's shoulder, she supposed. Well, there might be, but she was choosing to ignore it. So she gently, very gently, which was odd for her, put a hand on Serana's shoulder. Merina hadn't planned to say anything, but she hear the words coming out in a whisper before she could stop herself. "I'm sorry."

Serana turned her head to look at Merina. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

She tried to smile, but it failed worse than Serana's smiles usually did. Once again, Merina didn't know how to respond. She had an idea, but she was… she was…

She choose the word uncomfortable. It was close enough to the truth. Well, even if it wasn't, she still needed to say _something_. "Well if you— if you ever need to talk, you can— you can talk to me."

Merina attempted to smile, tried her best to show that even if her words weren't very convincing (she realized this, she really had to get better at least faking confidence or she was going to get no where), she really did mean what she said. She wasn't sure how much it worked, but at least she had tried.

Lydia walked up next to Serana on the other side, their right, and nodded. She didn't smile like Merina had, but unlike Merina, she seemed far less uncomfortable. Even if Merina knew that Lydia wasn't any better with bursts of emotions than she herself was.

Okay, they really had to get of here, it was getting more and more awkward the longer this went on.

Luckily, Serana seemed to feel the same way. She moved a bit behind them and finally looked up from the ground, this time, her gaze held steady. She looked between the two of them with a much more normal expression, even if it was probably faked. She had a slight smirk on a face, which suited her much better than the smiles she attempted. "We should probably get going."

Merina smile back, this time with much more certainty. But it didn't last long. Ah, yes, now she was reminded why they were in this tower in this cave. It wasn't a happy reminder.

But it was time to suck it up and just do what she needed to do. Merina turned a little, trying to look at something she'd seen out of the corner of her eye.

It was what she thought it was, one of the brass gates the Dwemer had so favored. But the gate itself didn't interest Merina, what was behind it did. It was another one of those "lifts". Merina immediately felt the nausea return at the thought of going on one of those again, but it was the quickest way out. Merina didn't want to chance going back the way they came. Divines only knew how many Falmer there could be and Merina wanted to have whatever time advantage she could over Alduin. Besides, they could always come back down.

Serana and Lydia seemed to think this too and so, through the gate they went and up the lift they went, using the key to start it up. Merina really did feel like puking and once again, she fell down when the hulking thing lurched up. Once again, she was the only one.

"Don't laugh at me."

"Why, my Thane, why ever would we do that?" But Lydia was smiling and Merina could see her on the verge of laughing. Actually, just after Lydia said that, she did laugh. Well, less a laugh and more a high pitched giggle. It was so startling to see the gargantuan, stoic Lydia _giggle_ (giggling, of all things!) that both Merina and Serana began to laugh as well. Real laughs, not giggles. Lydia started really laughing too, a low, rich sound. It echoed across the lift and helped Merina forget about her nausea.

She got up, still laughing a bit, and dusted herself off. The lift was pretty dusty and filled with cobwebs from lack of use.

When the came up and were able to exit through yet another brass gate, Merina could tell one thing. They were a long way from Alftland. In fact, where were they?

Merina had a feeling it wasn't in Winterhold.

Just as Merina was about to suggest going back down the Dwarven death trap, something stopped her.

It started with a loud grinding that turned into a horrid, high pitched screech of a sound. They all turned, wide eyed, only to see the whatever kept the lift up fail at its job. The lift began to plummet back down, making the screeching sound as it did.

They were all silent and just staring at where the lift had been. Merina was the first to say anything. "Well, I suppose there's no way to go back the way we came."

Serana looked at her, with what was almost a glare. Whether it was aimed at Merina or the situation, or both, Merina wasn't sure. "Great. Now we're stuck here in the middle of nowhere with no idea of where we are."

Lydia sighed a sigh of long suffering, seemingly in agreement with Serana's assessment of the situation, and pulled the map out of the bag. It was nighttime, so Merina wasn't exactly sure how it would be helpful, but Lydia seemed to be able to read it. She kept looking up at the sky, so Merina looked up too to see what was so great.

It was a new moon and there were no clouds, so the night sky was glittering like it was filled with thousands of fo glittering jewels.

Lydia was looking at one star in particular, one of the brighter ones. Then her eyes flitted back to the rather frayed map held in her hands. Then it was back to the sky, but only for a moment. She seemed to have figured whatever it was she was trying to figure out.

Lydia turned to them, her customary stern look on her face. She pointed south. "We go that way and we should reach Whiterun within the week."

Merina started walking, with Serana following behind her. "How did you figure out where we are?"

Lydia smiled slightly. "I guessed." She pulled the map out in front of her and pointed to a set of mountains. "I am thinking we are somewhere in these mountains. If we go this way, we shall find a road at the very least."

Merina smiled back at her. "Good point."

They began walking, slowly scaling down the mountain's rocks when there was no path to go down. Eventually, they made it all the way down, luckily alive and unharmed, although there was more than one instance where that seemed unlikely.

They quickly found the road and even a sign to the nearest town. As they were walking down the run down cobblestone path, Merina said, "Well, that wasn't so bad."

Serana gave her a look. "Yes, we got lost in frigid mountains, climbed over cliffs in pitch darkness, and almost got eaten by a Saber Cat. No, it wasn't so bad at all."

Merina smirked at her. "Why, Serana, you exaggerate. They were hardly cliffs."

Lydia moved a bit closer to them. "And besides, _we_ were not almost eaten."

Serana and Merina looked at her.

"That honor belongs to my Thane."

Merina went slightly pink, knowing that it was true.

Serana smiled. "Ah, yes, now I remember. The beast had its claws at her throat, about to swing, when I and my magic—"

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you and your magic? As if, my vampiric companion, it was clearly me. I and my sword swung through the air, thinking of nothing but saving my small and frail Thane."

"Small and frail? You're acting as if I'm some sick little child."

At the same time as Merina said that, Serana scoffed. "As if you could get close before it devoured her. Why, it was obviously me. I threw my dagger into its throat just before it swallowed her."

"Okay you two, it was nothing that dramatic."

In reality, beast had come out of no where and had gone straight for Merina, knocking her down. It's claws hadn't been able to go through her armor, lucky for her, but she'd been so startled and in that "By the Nine, I'm about to die!" mode, she had just frozen. Lydia and Serana had saved her, in a very normal, non dramatic way, but Merina had a feeling this was something she was never going to live down. You mess up _once_ and you're never allowed to forget it...

Merina had the feeling this is something Brother Darion would have told she would laugh at when she was older, but she wasn't laughing now. And she had always hated it when he said things like that.

They trudged on the road for the rest of the night and about two days after that, barely stopping to even sleep, just wanting to get to civilization. Finally, at about twilight, they reached Whiterun utterly exhausted. They all silently agreed that they couldn't order a carriage, not now.

They managed to pull themselves to their house, which was a nice change from the multitude of inns they had stayed in.

The place was messy, but furnished. There was a blue, green, and dark yellow striped carpet on the floor in front of the doors they had just walked in through. Books lay thrown in on a table that stayed in a corner by the door. They were on the table and not the stairs, because the last time they had been there they didn't exactly have time to do anything more than dump everything quickly. There was an unlit fire pit in the middle of the room, with a couple of chairs around it and a few shelves against the walls. There was a small kitchen with dried foods hanging from the floor of the upper level. Merina knew that in the little back store room was all there money. The way up to the upper level was a narrow set of wooden stairs.

They trudged up the stairs, already half asleep, and took maybe five seconds of deciding where to bunker down for the night. Merina got the large bed in what she guessed was the master bedroom, if it could even be called that, and the large bed all to herself and immediately fell on it, too exhausted to even take off her armor. Lydia claimed the chair in that room for herself, as she said she needed to be able to protect Merina at a moment's notice and the other two were just too tired to argue with her. Because of

Once again, Merina dreamed. It was the same dream she'd been having. The mist, the feeling, _Alduin_, all of it was the same. Except for two things. Either she was in Helgen or in the mountains, which Merina guessed where the Jeralls, and she'd either be herself or the ten year old version that felt much shorter than Merina remembered.

And it always ended the same way, with her failing and then waking up in a cold sweat. Lydia and Serana seemed to have noticed this time though. When she woke up, Serana standing next to the bed, looking at Merina. Lydia was standing behind her, with a slightly less stony expression than usual. They looked like they had been in the middle of some conversation and neither of them looked happy.

Merina, for her part, was groggy and trying to get hair out of her mouth, while also trying to forget about the dream. Her eyes still felt sleepy and she was sore all over. Her throat was dry and scratchy. "What— what time is it?"

"Still night, I'm afraid, my Thane."

Merina groaned and wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, but managed to stop herself. She pushed herself up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Lydia and Serana were still staring at her.

"What, do I have something on my face?"

Serana and Lydia looked at each other and then back at Merina. "Merina, we're worried about you."

Merina let out a nervous chuckle. "Worried? Why?"

Serana pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. "Well, you've been having nightmares. A lot."

"Serana, Lydia, just because I have nightmares doesn't mean that I'm— that there's something wrong."

Lydia moved closer, in what Merina thought was a show of support for what Serana was saying. "No, my Thane it does not. But you were not silent. You have been saying things in your sleep. Things that give us good cause to be worried."

"Well you shouldn't be. I'm fine."

That came out harsher than she intended.

"Look, my Thane, just because you are too obstinate to realize that you are _afraid _doesn't—"

Merina jumped up, almost knocking into Serana as she did. "I am _not_ afraid!"

That came out louder than she intended. In fact, it was pretty much a yell.

Oh gods, why had she yelled? Neither of them deserved that they just looking out for her. But she wasn't going to apologize! Not after...

She wasn't— well she wasn't feeling how Lydia said she did. Because if she was... if she admitted she felt that— that _feeling_ that made it real. And if it was real, if it was real...

But that feeling wouldn't help anyone. It wasn't going to stop Alduin. And either way, it didn't matter! Because she wasn't!

But there was an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach and she could hear the dream Alduin whispering in her mind.

They were all silent. Merina didn't know what to say and she felt like the others were in the same boat.

Merina pulled herself out of bed, wanting to hear something other than the palpable silence. Her metal boots made a sound against the wooden floor. They made a few more as she walked a few steps forward just so she wouldn't have to look at Lydia or Serana, but beyond that, there was nothing but silence.

Then, Lydia, Merina could tell it was her by the noise her shoes made, moved up to Merina right next to her and made sure that Merina was looking at her, straight in the eye. Lydia towered over her, as Lydia always did, but this time Lydia seemed a foot taller than her over six feet. Or maybe it was just that Merina seemed smaller.

"My Thane, it is alright for you to be frightened."

Merina looked down, wanting to look anywhere other than the Housecarl in front of her. She nodded absent mindedly, agreeing to anything if it would just _end_ this conversation.

She looked up and saw that Lydia clearly didn't believe her. Lydia put a hand on Merina's back and part lead, part herded Merina on to a chair. Merina didn't have much of a choice as Lydia was a lot bigger than she was and when push came to shove, Lydia was also stronger. So Merina sat in the chair with Lydia and Serana standing in front of her like they were about to begin an interrogation.

Lydia was in front, looking like she was trying her best not to look intimidating.

It wasn't working.

But Lydia was trying. Her shoulders seemed almost slumped, which was beyond bizarre for Lydia, her face looked less… less martial, for lack of a better word. She was smiling, slightly, as much as Lydia was probably capable of.

Merina was wondering what in Oblivion had replaced her friend with this— this thing.

When Lydia spoke, her voice was soft (well, as soft as Lydia's voice could be, it was still pretty firm and authoritarian) and almost kind. "My Thane, you are better than this. You are not defined by your fear and I know that you are better than it."

_Fear_.

She wasn't, she couldn't be, there was no way—

_Fear._

Merina felt like crying, just bursting into tears.

"You can rise above it."

"Rise above it." Merina's voice was bitter and quiet. She managed to keep her other emotions in. But barely. She could feel that feeling in her throat and the tingling on her nose.

'Just keep it in. Just keep it in.'

"But first you actually need to admit that you are—"

But before she could stop herself, she was talking. "Admit _what_? That I'm afraid? What good will that do anyone?"

Before Lydia could answer any of those questions, Merina talking again, like a whirlwind, fast and almost out of control. "What is saying that I'm scared going to do? Can saying that I'm afraid bring back the farms that the dragons destroyed? Can saying I'm afraid bring back the people that have been killed? Can it stop the end of the world? Can it stop Alduin?"

Lydia's voice was cool and calm in response to Merina storm like one. "Merina, if you cannot even admit that you're afraid, how do you think you can defeat Alduin?"

And there was the root of it. The cause, the first step, the beginning of the problem. Why she had enacted her wall of denial. A wall that seemed now seemed to have a crack

And in response to this, what did Merina do?

She took one look back at Lydia and went back bed, ready to fall back to sleep.

Author's note: I just have to say, I apologize for the action scenes. I admit that I'm pretty bad at them. If anyone has suggestions as to how to improve them, I would be glad to hear them. As always, I own nothing and everything you recognize doesn't belong to me. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this.


	13. Alduin's Bane

_"There is no official record of how Merina learned the Shout she used to defeat Alduin. In fact, there is no consensus on what Shout she used, or if she even used a Shout at all. Imperial sources say nothing about a Shout, however the Nord ones say that she did, although they cannot agree on what Shout she used. When I spoke with the Greybeards, they refused to say anything on the matter. The only other person who probably knew, Serana, has not been seen since the death of the empress. If Merina ever said how she defeated Alduin in her memoirs, that knowledge was lost in the fire." _

—_Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

She couldn't even escape in sleep, though that wasn't much of a shock at this point.

She was tossing and turning the entire night, barely falling asleep and then waking up again. If it wasn't the usual nightmare she was having, then she was dreaming of falling. For some reason, she was at the Throat of the World. She would be flung up into the air, soaring above the Word Wall, and then began to descend, faster and faster with every second, towards the ground. She would always keep falling and falling, until she was just about to hit the ground. That was when she would wake up.

The next day, Merina woke up anything but well rested. But there was another feeling too that concerned her more. One of uneasiness, Merina supposed. She knew _something_ was going to happen. Something bad, something soon. And that she would probably want to eat a good amount and resupply before they left Whiterun again.

Merina did get these feelings sometimes, useless though they were. She'd never had an actual ability to see the future, but she did get those feelings. She hated when that happened. It would give her a piece of the puzzle, instead of the entire thing and it was enormously frustrating. In truth, she wished that she didn't have them. But she'd learned from experience to listen to those feelings. So she had Lydia restock on supplies. She would have had Serana help, but Serana didn't seem to have a good grasp on the value of money nor did she eat, so she always overestimated or underestimated what they needed. So Serana stayed back, organizing the house, putting the books on shelves, the alchemical ingredients in proper places inside the small storeroom, and making a few comments here and there to Merina.

Soon, Lydia was back, breakfast was done, they had eaten, gotten some more money from the lock box they kept, and were on their way. They managed to hitch a ride all the way to Ivarstead for a little extra money. Merina realized that she could probably get the ride for free if she pressed, using her status as Dragonborn, but she wouldn't feel right doing that. So she payed the thirty septims in full and they were off without a fuss.

The way was cold and snowy. Winter really was upon them. And, as Lydia said, it was going to be a hard one. Snowstorms like the one they were didn't usually come so far south or this early.

"The earlier the snow comes, the longer it is before it goes away. This will be a hard year for Skyrim."

But beyond that, there were no problems on the road for them. Getting up High Hrothgar and then up to the top of the Throat of the World was more difficult than usual, true, but nothing else. The snow even stopped just before they got to the top. It was still freezing though. Merina couldn't wait to just the Scroll and get out off of this horrible mountain. How Paarthurnax live here for millennia?

"You have it. The Kel— the Elder Scroll. Tid kreh qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There is no question. You are doom driven. Kogaan Akatosh. The very bones of the earth are at your disposal."

"So how do I read it?"

After all, the very bones of the earth weren't going to be worth much if she couldn't use them.

"Take the Elder Scroll to the Time Wound. Fulfill your destiny. Do not delay. Alduin will be coming. He cannot miss the signs."

Well that wasn't good. Merina hoped that whatever the Scroll would teach her, it would do it fast. Sensing no other option, she walked to where the snow flew upward.

The air seemed to stand still and she saw that the snow wasn't actually going up, it was staying still in the air. She took a deep breath and pulled the Elder Scroll off of her back, where she had carried it (Lydia had gotten some straps while she was getting supplies). Then summoning all her courage and trying to forget about the possibility of blindness, madness, or both, she opened it.

She wasn't prepared for what it showed. Strange algorithms and theorems at first, glowing bright blue, but then those faded into the background as she was seemingly transported in time.

She was still in the Throat of the World, but now the the sky was an orangish red and Paarthurnax, Lydia, and Serana were no where to be seen. She couldn't move, she could only watch what unfolded next.

A dragon flew down from the sky chasing after a man, who yelled, "Gormlaith! We're running out of time! The battle—"

Whoever this Gormlaith person was, they didn't get to respond before the dragon flew to the ground and said, "Daar sul thur se Alduin vokrii. Today Alduin's lordship will be restored! But I honor your courage. Krif voth ahkrin. Die now, in vain."

The man didn't seem to listen, which Merina respected. With a cry of, "For Skyrim!" he ran at the dragon, avoiding the fire it sent at him. He began to slice at it with his axe while also avoiding its deadly teeth.

Suddenly, a woman joined the man and together they fought the dragon. Finally, the woman jumped on the dragon's maw and shoved her sword through its jaws, as she said, "Know that Gormlaith sent you down to death!"

Merina immediately liked that woman.

The dragon let out a horrible cry, like the one at the Western Watchtower had just a few months ago. It hadn't felt like a few months though. It felt like years.

The woman, who turned out to be Gormlaith, called out to the man, "Hakon! A glorious day, is it not!"

The man, who appeared to be named Hakon, replied, "Have you no thought beyond the blooding of your own blade?"

These people sounded like they were from one of those old, dusty legends Merina used to read. Then again, these people _were_ legends. They were certainly old enough.

The woman laughed. "What else is there?"

The man didn't share her enthusiasm. "The battle below goes ill. If Alduin does not rise to our challenge, I fear all may be lost."

Another dragon's roar penetrated the sky, shaking even Merina. The woman didn't seem troubled though, by the dragon or by what Hakon had said. "You worry too much, brother. Victory will be ours."

Her brother responded less optimistically. "Why does Alduin hang back? We've staked everything on this plan of yours, old man."

Okay, now he was speaking to someone else. Merina turned, she could at least do that, even if she couldn't really move anywhere else, to where the siblings were looking.

True to Harkon's word, it was an old man. He was wearing a robe and wore an Elder Scroll, Merina supposed it was the one she was using, on his back, like Serana did. "He will come. He cannot ignore our defiance. And why should he fear us, even now?"

Gormlaith seemed to disagree with that last part. "We've bloodied him well. Four of his kin have fallen to my blade alone this day."

In the distance, two dragons chased after one another, but Merina couldn't tell if they were enemies or allies.

The old man seemed less confident than Gormlaith. "But none have yet stood against Alduin himself. Galthor, Sorri, Birkur..."

Gormlaith still seemed confident, though. "They did not have have Dragonrend. Once we bring him down, I promise I will have his head."

The old man shook his head. "You do not understand. Alduin cannot be slain like a lesser dragon. He is beyond our strength."

Merina didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit. But perhaps she was different. She was Dragonborn after all.

The old man continued as he pulled the Scroll off of his back. "Which is why I brought the Elder Scroll."

Hakon didn't seem happy at that. "Felldir! We agreed not to use it!"

The old man remained adamant. "I never agreed. And if you are right, I will not need it."

Still, Hakon seemed angry. "No. We will deal with Alduin ourselves, here and now."

Gormlaith, who had remained silent throughout the argument, perhaps it was really Hakon who had not wanted to use the Elder Scroll, now spoke up. "We shall see soon enough. Alduin approaches."

Hakon seemed resigned. "So be it."

Then, they all pulled out their weapons and ran towards the Word Wall. Alduin came down from his flight, landing on the Wall, barely managing to put even a quarter of his weight on it. He shouted at the three warriors from above, "Meyye. Tahrodiis aanne! Him hinde pah liv! Zu'u hin daan!"

Gormlaith didn't seem intimidated. "Let those who watch from Sovngarde envy us this day!"

Merina _really_ liked Gormlaith. She kind of reminded Merina of a more bombastic and less serious version of Lydia.

Alduin flew up, but the three warriors were ready for him and Shouted as one. "Joor Zah Frul!"

Alduin fell to the ground, encircled by a blue mist. "Nivahriin joorre! What have you done? What twisted words have you created?! Tahrodiis Paarthurnax! My teeth to his neck!"

So that was what the Shout was! And that was why Paarthurnax, or any other dragon, could never learn it! Dragons were the children of Akatosh! They couldn't understand what it meant to be mortal!

Now Merina understood, but the vision wasn't over yet.

Alduin wasn't done yet either. "But first... dir ko maar. You will die in terror, knowing you final fate… to feed my power when I come for you in Sovngarde!"

Gormlaith was, once again, not intimidated. "If I die today, it will not be in terror!"

If only Merina had read about this woman when she was a little girl. She would have practically _worshipped _Gormlaith!

Gormlaith attacked, with the two men following after her.

Gormlaith didn't stop with the insults against Alduin. "You feel fear for the first time, worm. I see it in your eyes. Skyrim will be free!"

The three launched blow after blow, but nothing seemed to work. No matter how many blows of Hakon's axe landed, or how many times Gormlaith stabbed him, or how much Felldir Shouted, nothing worked. Eventually, one of them fell.

It was Gormlaith, who was right at Alduin's maw, striking cut after cut at his throat, but eventually she got caught by large teeth. He swung her around like a cat would a mouse before throwing her off the mountain.

Hakon's cry of anguish was immediate. "No, damn you!"

They kept trying to fight, with Hakon fueled by grief and rage, but eventually he realized that it would do nothing. "It's no use! Use the Scroll, Felldir! Now!"

Felldir backed up, while Hakon distracted the gigantic dragon, and pulled the Elder Scroll off from his back once again. He opened it, and began to recite some incantation. "Hold, Alduin on the Wing! Sister Hawk, grant us your sacred breath to make this contract heard! Begone World Eater! By words with older bones than your own we break your perch on this age and send you out!"

Hakon clearly losing his fight, but kept on. Felldir, in return, continued his spell. "You are banished! Alduin we Shout you out from all our endings until the last!"

A portal began form around Alduin as he yelled at Felldir, to no avail. As Alduin disappeared in a green light, Felldir finished his spell, full speed ahead, without a trace of fear in his voice. "You are banished!"

Hakon managed to push himself up from the ground. "It worked... you did it..."

Felldir did not seem happy or relieved though. "Yes, the World Eater is gone… may the spirits have mercy on our souls."

The algorithms and theorems returned in their full glory, pulling Merina back to the present. She arrived back in a white light, which soon realized was not that the world had lost its definition, but that she was blind and in her confusion she dropped the Elder Scroll. She anxiously fumbled for it in the snow before her sight returned. She suddenly heard a monstrous roar coming closer and closer and the beating of wings that reverberated like thunder across the twilight.

How long had she been gone?

But she didn't have time for questions like that, Paarthurnax was right and Alduin had recognized the signs. He was here, right now. Right here, right now!

And with a cold dread it finally sunk in to Merina that she had to face him. Her heart immediately began to work on overload and she could feel ice going through her veins rather than blood.

Oh Gods, she had to do this. She— she actually had to kill Alduin! Divines help her, she— she had to kill the oldest of all dragons!

She swallowed down panic and nausea as the dragon approached, faster than she thought was possible.

"Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor. My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin."

Fear was replaced with pure anger and hate. Arngeir said this Shout required anger and hate for dragons? She would give him hate and anger tenfold.

"Die now and await your fate in Sovngarde."

Merina pulled out her bow. "I'm glad you think you think my companions and I worthy of Sovngarde, but I assure you, it will not be us who die today."

Alduin flew towards Paarthurnax, who cried out, "Lost funt! You are too late, Alduin!"

Alduin let out a horrid cry of rage that shook Merina to her very core. Paarthurnax called out to her, "Use Dragonrend, if you know it Dovahkiin!"

Merina did just that, pulling her the rage and hate she had accumulated over the years into three words that felt to short to encompass it all. "Joor Zah Frul!"

Alduin came tumbling down, shaking the mountain and Merina, Lydia, and Serana when he landed. Merina dropped the bow and pulled out Dragonbane. It was made for this. She was made for this.

She ran at Alduin, running faster than she ever had before in her life, practically flying over the snow, looking like she was running towards the mountain path. She ran behind Alduin so that she could stay away from his jaws and any fire that he might try to send her way. She wasn't quite sure if Lydia and Serana were anywhere near her, all of her concentration was focused on just killing Alduin. Alduin himself seemed too stunned to do anything and she managed to land blow after blow, one for every rapid beat of her heart, before he managed to move. The blood was ringing in her ears and she barely had control over her actions. Instinct had taken over, the power of being Dragonborn told her what to do. She would have been afraid, would have been overcome by sheer terror, if she had been thinking any farther than "Kill Alduin. Destroy Alduin."

It suddenly didn't feel like she could die or, at least, that surviving wasn't important. All that mattered was killing this dragon. Her mind had pushed out all other thoughts. Because, if she'd had the time to think about it, if she let herself be frightened, she would fail. So she kept on fighting, letting instinct and battle fury overtake her.

But then Alduin suddenly lashed out at her with his large tail, swinging in at her and throwing her into the snow before flying up again.

The Shout, it seemed, had worn off.

Alduin flew at Paarthurnax, faster than Merina could pull in the energy for another blast of Dragonrend.

Alduin seemed to know some sort of Shout that sent fire raining down from the sky, but Merina quickly counteracted it with the Clear Skies. That had been more useful than she originally thought.

Finally, after what felt like forever of waiting for Alduin to stay still long enough for her to bring him down, she was able to Shout at him again. He fell to the ground, near the World Wall, and she darted over there. As soon as she ran up to him, she jumped on his back, sped up his neck, and sent a killing blow through his skull.

Or she thought.

Or so it should have been.

Somehow, Alduin managed to survive that. He threw his head to the side, sending her and her blade, which still firmly grasped in her hands, flying.

For a terrifying, moment, Merina thought she was going to die. She went soaring through the air, hearing a scream of pure terror as she did. It took her a moment to realize that the scream was her own. She heard Lydia shout, "My Thane!", while at the same time Serana screamed, "Merina!"

But they could do nothing to save her, even as they ran to the edge of the mountain.

Then, just as quickly as her flight began, Merina began to tumble downward, down through the sky, down towards towards Ivarstead and its raging river.

And in that moment, Merina felt fear like she never had before.

She was screaming, louder and more high pitched than ever before, her arms and legs flailing, in a hopeless attempt to find something— anything!— to grab on to.

That was when Merina heard the rushing of air from under her and the beating of wings. A grey blur flew to her side. Paarthurnax!

She managed to grab on to horns, clinging to it for dear life.

Alduin was back in the air, about to fly away. "Meyye mul, Dovahkiin. You have grown strong. But I am Alduin, Firstborn of Akatosh! Mulaagi zok lot! I cannot be slain here, by you or anyone else!"

And with that, he flew off into the night.

Paarthurnax carefully flew back down onto the mountain and Merina let go of his horn. She looked at the old grey dragon. She didn't quite know what to say. What words could encompass the gratitude she felt. She settled on thank you.

Paarthurnax merely nodded his head. "Lok kongrah. You truly have the voice of a Dovah. Alduin's allies will think twice after this victory."

The reminder of Alduin's almost defeat sent Merina to her knees. Not only had Alduin run away (like a milk drinker!), he had said that _no one_ could defeat him. But then Merina remembered the rest of what the World Eater had said. "I can not be slain here."

He said _here_. He added _here_. That meant he could be slain. Well, it probably meant that, but Merina pushed away any doubts she had. This _had _too mean that he could be slain.

So he could be slain. Just not _here_. Where he could be killed, Merina didn't know. At this rate she was probably going to have to travel to Oblivion.

She wasn't looking forward to that.

Merina looked Paarthurnax in the eye, the first time she had since he saved her. "It wasn't really a victory. Alduin escaped. How will we find him now?"

Paarthurnax seemed to think on it for a minute. "One of his allies could tell us. Motmahus… but it will not be easy to convince one of them to betray him. Perhaps the hofkasejun— the palace in Whiterun… Dragonsreach. It was originally built to house a captive dovah."

Merina raised an eyebrow at that.

"A fine place to trap one of Alduin's allies, hmm?"

"The Jarl might not think so."

Paarthurnax seemed to not have thought of that. "Hmm, yes. But your su'um is strong. I am sure that you can convince him of the need."

Merina nodded at that. Jarl Balgruuf probably would agree, if she told him about Alduin. "Alright, so I can trap one of Alduin's allies there, but how am I even supposed to get the dragon there in the first place?"

"Hmm, yes. I have been pondering on that exact question. Ning graah morah. I have tasted the voices of Alduin's allies on the wind. Pohgan nahraas vohrkiil baakjuun. There is one who I remember well. Odahviing. He is the one to tell us where Alduin has gone."

Merina nodded. "But how am I supposed to get him to Dragonsreach? It's not if he'll just come if I call."

"Ah. I forget how little you know of the dov. Our names are always of three rotmulaag— words of power. You see, Paar-thur-nax. A Thu'um, a Shout, yes?"

Merina nodded, slowly. This must have been what the Greybeards did to summon her, using the word Dovahkiin. But she still didn't quite understand. "So maybe it will summon him, but why would he come? He would have to realize that it wouldn't be a good idea."

"He is not compelled to come, but the dov are prideful by nature. Few could resist such a challenge, especially from you, Dovahkiin. But Odahviing, he is… headstrong, bosiik, rash. Even among the dov he was known for this. He will not resist the challenge of your voice. He will come."

"Alright." Merina was still a bit skeptical, but she trusted Paarthurnax's judgement.

"Now, hear his name— Odahviing— taste it on the wind. Od-ah-viing. Know it in your Thu'um. _Od-ah-viing_."

Merina still didn't know how this whole learning a Shout process worked, but she did know that it did its job. And true to form, she learned the words. Od-ah-viing. Winged-snow-hunter.

The name of a dragon was a sum of who it was, its personality, its experiences. Somehow, through learning its name, Merina somehow knew who the dragon was. A born hunter, rash and bold, as Paarthurnax had said. One who worked only for the strongest.

With that, she thanked Paarthurnax for his help, picked the Elder Scroll back up from where she had dropped it, and then she and the other two left. They managed to get down High Hrothgar in record time and managed to get some horses from the guards. Then was off at breakneck speed for Whiterun.

They arrived at Dragonsreach at around two in the afternoon, on the 10th of Morning Star, breathing heavily from running through the city and utterly exhausted from their ride.

Jarl Balgruuf was sitting in his throne, appearing peaceful, when they burst in, the guards barely able to open the door before they slammed into it.

They took a moment to catch their breath, before walking at a much more normal (and sane looking) pace. They looked at each other for a second and then Merina began to speak. She decided to abandon all formality and any attempt to soften the blow. "We need to use your palace to catch a dragon."

Jarl Balgruuf seemed stunned. His face was frozen in a welcoming smile, but he did blink a few times. At least they knew that he had heard her. "I must have misheard you. I thought you asked me to help you trap a dragon in my palace."

"Unfortunately, you heard right. But it's the only way to stop the dragons."

The Jarl shook his head. "There must be another way. The risk is too great."

And here came the kicker. If this couldn't convince him, nothing would. "Not when it comes to this. Alduin has returned."

Jarl Balgruuf seemed horrified, with good reason, and stunned. "Alduin? The World Eater himself? But… how can we fight him? Doesn't his return mean it's the end times?"

Meirna took a deep breath. 'Try to sound convincing, try to sound like you know what you're talking about.'

"It's only hopeless if we give up."

The Jarl's expression morphed into one of resolve. "I never said anything about giving up. But I can't let a dragon into the heart of my city, with the threat of war on my doorstep. Ulfric and General Tullius are both just waiting for me to make a wrong move. Do you think they will sit idle while a dragon is slaughtering my men and burning my city?" Jarl Balgruuf's expression changed to one of regret. "No. I can't risk weakening the city while we are under threat of attack. I'm sorry."

Merina took a deep breath, trying to reign in her anger. True, it was the Jarl's job to protect his people, but there wasn't going to be a city or his people to protect if she wasn't able to stop Alduin! She took another deep breath and uncurled her fists.

The Jarl was right, bringing in a dragon when the city could be attacked was a bad idea. If they were attacked on both fronts, she might not be able to trap the dragon and her opportunity would be lost. And if she was killed in the confusion the entire dragon trapping plan, which could get a lot of people hurt or killed, would be for nothing. She might not be entirely convinced on this "prophecy" thing, but the truth was that this was the eleventh hour. There wasn't going to be anyone else able to learn fast enough how to stop Alduin. Not to mention that a battle with either side in the war could also bring many, many casualties. The Jarl was right to

So to trap the dragon, first she had to make sure that neither side would attack the city. While she thought this was unlikely, given the season, this was Skyrim. All the soldiers were probably accustomed to the weather. And they had been here for— what, two, three years? People were probably starting to get desperate. She could hardly single handedly end the war, but perhaps she could pause it... "What if we could get the two sides to agree to a truce?"

"Then I would be glad to help you with your mad dragon trapping scheme. But getting both sides to that will be difficult at this point. The bitterness has gone too deep."

They were both silent for a minute, Merina not knowing enough of Skyrim politics to be able to suggest anything and the Jarl seemed to be considering something.

Then the Jarl said, "Maybe… hmm… what of the Greybeards? They are respected by all Nords. High Hrothgar is neutral territory. If the Greybeards were to hold a peace council, then maybe Ulfric and General Tullius would have to listen."

Merina nodded at the sensibleness of the proposition. "Alright. I'll talk to the Greybeards."

Merina, Lydia, and Serana left the palace. The Jarl arranged for a carriage ride to take them to Ivarstead and anywhere else they needed to go to make this work. But before they left, Merina wanted to do one thing.

"Merina where are you going?"

They were right by their house, Breezehome. Lydia and Serana were closer to the Blacksmith's shop, while Merina was right in front of their home's door. "I just want to pick something up. You two continue to the stables. I'll be there soon."

Lydia and Serana looked at each other. Lydia shrugged, then Serana nodded, and the two continued on.

Merina for her part, went into the house and walked over to their bookshelf. She leafed through the books it contained until she found the one she was looking for. The Thalmor dossier on Ulfric Stormcloak. If she got him to agree to the peace council, she'd give it to him. He deserved to know that the falling of the Imperial City wasn't his fault.

She also had to put the Elder Scroll somewhere it would be safe. It probably wasn't a good idea to keep a metaphysical she didn't really understand around. Besides, it was a bit of a load at this point. She put it under her bed. Probably best to keep that out of sight for the common thief.

With the book in her bag, she left her house, running so that she could catch up to her two companions.

She found them at the stables waiting for her, with a carriage ready to move. They all got on and they were back off to Ivarstead.

And by the time she got on it, Merina realized how utterly exhausted she was. She could feel her eyes closing, slowly and almost lazily. She tried to stop it, tried to fight against tiredness, but at this point, she couldn't have fought a skeever, let alone her desire to sleep. So she gave in and just resigned herself to her recurring nightmare. It wasn't long before she was back in the dream world.

She was once again in Helgen. She often came back here, more than she did the Jeralls. Helgen was empty, but wasn't destroyed. Merina felt the wind brush through her hair. For some reason, Merina could have sworn that she heard voices in the wind, whispering some unknown message to her. But she did not understand what they were saying, could not make out one word for the next.

Alduin returned to Helgen, as he always did, making the sky filled with red clouds that seemed whirlpool. Merina now expected him with nothing more than cold dread and the beginnings of…

"You are more than your fears. They do not control you."

That was easy for Lydia to say, she was getting dream stalked by an immortal dragon.

Merina heard the beating of wings, the thunder clashing against the sky. The whirlpool like clouds began to hail fire down, but nothing touched Merina.

Alduin landed behind her, the force of landing sending dust flying and made Merina's fly in front of her before settling down again. But Merina didn't turn around. It was time to just ignore him. Maybe that would make him go away.

It didn't dissuade Alduin from yapping though. "So, you defeated me. I suppose I'm supposed to say well done. That is, if your victory actually did anything."

Merina forced herself not to move, not to turn around.

"I got away after all. You didn't stop anything."

Merina didn't move, but she did talk. "It's not like I'm out of cards yet."

She sounded a lot more confident about her plan then she felt.

"Oh yes, your little plan to defeat Odahviing. Well, first you're actually going to have to make this peace council work."

"You say that as if it's some monumental task."

"What makes you think that you think that you can actually get them to agree? When have you ever been good at peacemaking?"

Merina didn't turn to look at him. She looked at the ground instead.

"You have never been a woman of compromise. You do not know how to stop a fight. The only thing you know how to do is to fight and follow orders like some mindless brute."

Merina's fists clenched, but she stayed where she was. She certainly didn't want to prove what Alduin had just said correct.

"Look at what you've done. Not a single thing you've done is something you've thought up. You just follow orders like a good dog. So how are you going to make them listen to you? How are you going to make _anyone _listen to you?"

Merina stayed put. She bit her lip.

"You will fail. You cannot stop this war even for a moment. You are too weak minded to do anything. Your friends will die. Esbern will die. Paarthurnax will die. Brother Darion will die. Your will die. I will burn the world until there is nothing left."

With that Merina suddenly turned around. Not because he insulted her. He threatened the people she loved.

He threatened Lydia.

He threatened Serana.

He threatened Esbern and Paarthurnax.

He threatened Brother Darion and everyone from Kvatch.

He threatened her mother.

And threatened the world, _her _world.

So she turned around.

She had faced Alduin before and she could do it again.

She took a forward towards him and then another. As she did, her clothes, which had been the usual ones she wore in Kvatch changed. Dress became breastplate and leg armor, sleeves became gauntlets and gloves, boots became that of her Blades' armor, and a sword in its scabbard now hung at her waist. She now donned a helmet.

She kept moving toward Alduin, staring right into his eyes that burned like hot coals. Those eyes put terror into her.

No longer.

She was Merina Septim, last of her line, a line of emperors, of heroes, of a god. She was the Dragonborn. And she would not be cowed by a monster made of _smoke_. She would not let him touch her friends, her family, or anyone else.

Now she saw this mirage for what it truly was. She had faced Alduin before and beaten him. If there was one thing she knew, it was that this wasn't Alduin.

It was a young woman, surrounded by shadows and smoke, but Merina could make out what she looked like. The woman could no longer hide in her shadows. She had dark blonde hair that fell at around her shoulders and was fair skinned. The shadow woman had sharp, bright blue grey eyes and eyebrows that made her look like she was constantly angry or serious. Her face was thin, long, angular, and harsh. At only a little over five feet tall, she was short and of a stocky, muscular build. There were small nicks and scars visible all over her arms, hands, and few on her face from previous scuffles and Akatosh knew what else.

The shadow monster's voice was a harsh drawl that seemed to cut through Merina. "I was wondering when you were finally going to figure it out."

"Well, let's just say you were a good imitation. The shadows were a nice touch."

The shadow woman gave Merina a smile that showed all of her teeth. "Really? I thought so too. With you, I've learned the best way to cripple you with fear is to leave it up to your imagination."

"Perhaps, so. But I am hardly crippled now. Get out."

The shadow didn't seem convinced. She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"What I just said. Get out. Now."

The creature let a laugh. "You can't get rid of me. You can _never _get rid of me."

"Perhaps not. But I don't have to listen to you. Get out."

The thing now seemed nervous. "You— you can't do that."

"Watch me."

This was, after all, her dream. She controlled it, not this shadow monster.

And all shadows fled from light.

With both those things in mind, she conjured up a gigantic fireball. Then she threw it at the shadow with all her might.

It hit the creature, pushing it back into one the larger rocks. It screamed horribly, a high pitched wail that echoed across the mountain. The shadows seemed to pulled inward and with loud crack, the thing imploded.

And, finally, Merina was able to sleep in peace.

When Merina woke up, it was for once with the feeling that she had actually slept. For once, she wasn't still tired and well… that made the task ahead look a lot easier.

The journey to Ivarstead was short, about two days, as the driver had been instructed to go at full speed with as few stops as possible. There were no attacks, dragon or any other, but there was a lot of snow. Lydia's statement about this being a hard winter might have been truer than Merina originally thought. It looked (and felt) like they were back in Winterhold.

Which made getting up the Throat of the World almost impossible. The carriage couldn't bring them up there, but the driver would wait so that he could take them to… well, wherever they needed to go next.

It had taken them longer than usual to get up to High Hrothgar, what with the wind and the amount of snow, both on the ground and in the air. So it was the next day in the early morning when they finally reached the monastery. Arngeir was meditating in the large entrance room, but he stopped and got up when he heard them come in.

Merina walked up to him and decided once again to abandon all tact and just get to the point. There wasn't any time for tact. "I need your help to stop the war."

Arngeir shook his head. "You misunderstand our authority. The Greybeards have never have never involved themselves in political affairs."

'Try to stay calm, Merina. You haven't explained the situation. These are their long held traditions, these will be hard to let go of. You can't just expect him to just give you what you want. Even if it is the only way to stop the end of the world…

"I need to trap a dragon at Dragonsreach so I can find where Alduin has gone, but the Jarl won't help unless there's a ceasefire."

"I see. Eye dragon will lead you to Alduin, but without the Jarl's help…"

Merina began to sound a bit desperate, she began to speak more quickly, in a more high pitched voice. "Everyone respects the Greybeards, if you agree to hold a peace conference then—"

Arngeir stopped her. He didn't look happy, but he didn't deny what she had just said. "Paarthurnax has made the decision to help you. This is the road we must walk."

Merina felt a wave of relief roll over her. "Thank you. I can't tell you how important this is."

Arngeir still didn't look pleased. "It seems even the Greybeards must bend to the winds of change. So be it. Tell Ulfric and General Tullius that the Greybeards wish to speak with them. We will see if they still remember us."

He had said that last part with great bitterness. He was clearly lamenting something, that Merina could tell, but she wasn't sure what.

The snow had stopped, so Merina and her two companions were able to leave immediately. They ran down the mountain, climbing down rocks where they could, almost completely disregarding safety, but with the danger ahead, there was little thought to that.

With the faster pace and the lack of attacks, they were able to get back down the mountain in just an hour. They found their driver in the inn, waiting for them. He quickly left and once they were all ready to go, he asked, "So where do you want to go?"

Merina took a moment to decide. "Solitude."

She knew General Tullius, even if not anything close to knowing him well. There was also the fact that, while they had almost executed her, she was still a loyal citizen of the Empire. She had citizenship in Cyrodiil and everything.

The road to Solitude was actually in quite good repair and with the speed they were going, even with the weather working against them, they were able to make good time in getting to the city. They arrived after five days of traveling.

When they entered the city through the the gates, Merina saw was it was as large, at least for a city of Skyrim, as she remembered. Serana was in awe of the place. "From my home, you used to just be able to see Solitude over the mountains. It's exactly what I imagined."

"Yes, it's pretty nice, isn't it? But we have to find the general."

They asked around a bit and found out he was located in Castle Dour. Merina remembered the place from the last time she had been to Solitude, around five years ago at this point, and they started walking over to it, with Merina trying to remember the correct streets to go along. Along the way however, Merina saw a little girl sitting on ground and crying. Merina walked over to her and kneeled down. "Are you alright?"

The girl looked up at her, her face streaked with tears. With some startled shock, Merina saw the expression on the girl's face was the one everyone she knew back in Kvatch told her she had when her father died. "I— I don't want to talk."

Suddenly, Merina remembered hearing about an execution. It was for the man who let Ulfric Stormcloak escape. He had apparently been in hiding for the last few years, but he'd been found. People had expressed sympathy for "poor Svari". Merina was guessing that this was who they were talking about. "Well, you're talking now, aren't you?"

"I shouldn't be. Mama says if I talk to people, they'll ask about Uncle Roggvir. Maybe if I don't talk they won't either."

Suddenly, a small smile came on Merina's face. "Well, if you don't want to talk, you don't have to. It's a shame really. I mean, I thought you would want to hear about the dragon, but—"

Suddenly, the girl seemed very excited, she perked up a bit. Her voice was fast, but not unhappy when she spoke. "Dragon? Really? Was it big? Did it breathe fire?"

Merina managed to keep smiling, even though now it was a bit more fake. "Yes, yes, and yes. Oh gods, yes on that last one. Yes, I've seen a dragon, lots of dragons, in fact. I'm going to let you in on a little secret."

Svari leaned in a bit closer.

"I'm the Dragonborn."

The girl gasped in delight. "The Dragonborn? _Really_?! How many have dragons have you slain?!"

"Oh lots. But there's one that's bigger than them all..."

Merina began to tell the tale of how she defeated Alduin in battle, perhaps exaggerating some of the details, not noticing the group of children that were beginning to crowd around her.

"So I ran towards him, grabbed one of his scythe like scales, used it to jump on him, and then I threw my sword into his skull."

Svari's eyes were sparkling, her tears and sadness forgotten, if only briefly. "So you killed him."

Merina winced a tad. "Not exactly. You see, Alduin, the World Eater, the first dragon is secretly a _milk drinker_! He somehow managed to survive the stabbing and he flew off into the night."

A little boy chimed in. "But weren't you on top of him?"

"Ah, yes I was. He threw me and my sword off. I was flung through the air, but Paarthurnax, the good dragon caught me."

A girl, who had only just joined and thus hadn't heard about Paarthurnax, asked. "There are good dragons?"

Merina chuckled a bit. "I don't know if I'd go that far, but Paarthurnax is good. He's very old, very wise, and he doesn't hurt anyone. He helped me fight Alduin." Merina let out a sigh. "And that children, is why I am here to day. Alduin may have gotten away that one time, but he is not invincible, whatever you may think. I have to speak with General Tullius. He's going to help me find where Alduin has gone."

Best not to tell anyone who wasn't on the need to know basis about the plan. She bade the children goodbye, who were a bit disappointed that she was leaving, but were mollified by one of the gaggle suggesting a game of tag. Then she, Lydia, and Serana continued on to Castle Dour.

Soldiers were practicing outside the keep, all except three, one who seemed to be the leader and the other two were in uniform guarding a door. Merina guessed that was where the general was located.

The guards originally didn't want to let her in, but with her demonstrating a Shout, the Clear Skies one, which made all the soldiers and their leader turn to look at her in shock, they let her in. Their hands were shaking when they let her in.

The interior of the keep was dark, with only candles lit in the entryway. There were many Imperial banners displaying the black dragon crest. Seeing now, knowing of Alduin, it was in a way ironic.

There were open doors, across from the way Merina had entered, that led to a far more lit room. From where she was standing, Merina could see two people, a man and a woman. She didn't recognize the woman, but the man was another story. Even from a distance, she could tell that it was General Tullius.

Merina walked into the smaller, better lit room. The General and the woman, who appeared to be a legate from the way she dressed, stared at her in shock.

The general looked older. His hair was now completely white and he now had wrinkles, which she didn't remember him having. He walked up to her. "Are my men now giving free reign to anyone who enters the castle? Do you have some reason to be here, citizen?"

Merina's mouth fell open a bit and she blinked several times. _How did he not remember who she was_?! Was old age somehow affecting his _memory_?! At Helgen, she could understand, she was at the back of the group just before they were going to be executed and he had been rightly focused on Ulfric. But _now_?! How— why— how?!

Before she could say anything, which was probably a good thing as whatever would have come out would have probably ruined any chance of a peace council, a man came barreling down the stairs. But when he saw Merina, he stopped dead in his tracks. His face was frozen in an expression of shock.

It took a second for Merina to recognize him. But she couldn't forget that dark brown hair, olive complexion, or brown eyes. "Avitus?"

He was taller than she remembered him, though still of average height for someone born and bred in Cyrodiil, and a bit more muscular, but he was still lean and lanky. What really puzzled Merina was the expression on his face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Was she really that horrible?

Avitus managed to stutter something out. "Y— you're _dead_."

Merina stumbled back. "_What_?!"

Avitus continued on, as if he hadn't heard her. "It was just a couple months ago. I got word from the priest that you had died. I went back to Kvatch and there— there was a funeral. A cremation, he— he said you'd died from some fever and everything had to be burned. I mourned, we all mourned. I— I comforted the priest. Do mean to say that _you've been alive this entire time?!_"

Before Merina could say anything, like how she hadn't even known about her own "death", Avitus had wrapped her in a bear hug.

Merina let out a tiny, very undignified squeak. She just knew that behind her, Lydia and Serana were holding back laughter. But she didn't really care right now. "It's been too long."

Serana said from behind her, "Merina, you care to tell us what's going on? And who's this?"

Avitus let her go and Merina turned around to look at the two of them. "This is Avitus, he's my old friend from Kvatch. Avitus, the one in the steel armor is my body— Housecarl. The one who looks like she's in fancy clothes— it's actually armor, but you cannot tell from looking at her, believe me, I know— is Serana. Don't worry, she won't hurt you. "

Merina turned back to look at General Tullius. "And as to why I am here, General, I'm afraid I have bad news. The dragon menace is worse than you know. Alduin has returned."

The woman, who Merina was pretty sure was a Nord from her impressive height, was the only one who seemed to recognize what this meant. Under her helmet, her face looked horrified. Seeing as the general and Avitus were just staring at each her with identical expressions of confusion, Merina decided to clarify, although she started to go into a ramble that was less than illuminating, "He's the first dragon and he wants to end the world and I almost killed him, but he ran away, so I need to trap a dragon in Dragonsreach, but the only way the Jarl will let me do this is, is if I can get you and Ulfric Stormcloak to agree to peace." Merina took a long breath. "So I need you to go to High Hrothgar."

The general looked skeptical. "The dragons are getting to be a problem. But I wasn't sent to Skyrim to fight dragons. I was sent here to quell this rebellion and I intend to do just that. And I doubt that there is any sort of world ending threat from this "Alduin" you speak of."

The woman looked like she might say something, but Avitus got to that first. "Father, Merina isn't one to make up something like this. If she says that there's an… apocalypse bringing dragon, then I believe her."

He gave her a look, as if to say, "You are telling the truth, aren't you?"

Merina nodded and was a bit more collected now. When she spoke, her speech was a bit more intelligible. "I assure you, Alduin is real. I fought him myself. However, he ran off. I need this peace to be agreed to, so I can capture one of his subordinates and stop the end of the world. General, this may be hard to believe, but if we can't stop Alduin, there will be no Stormcloaks, no Empire, there won't be a world left. We will all die and our souls will simply be fuel for Alduin's destruction. Please. I'm not asking for you to surrender. I'm not asking for even a permanent peace. All I need is a temporary cease fire."

Merina then decided to change tactics, just in case that little speech hadn't worked. "Besides, you can't even fight well right now. It's winter. Supplies are low, fighting is hard, and you are dealing with an enemy who knows the terrain and can tolerate the weather better than most. Choose now for a ceasefire and you will be able you refuel and restock. You can rearm your troops in the spring. Now is the ideal time. You haven't had to deal with the full force of winter. Come to this peace council and you will be able to negotiate from a place of strength."

With everyone staring at the general, all clearly wanting him to agree. "Fair enough. We're driving the Stormcloaks back at the moment, but we're already over stretched. Fine, I'll come to this peace council. For all the good it will do."

Deeming that a success, Merina nodded. She bade goodbye to Avitus and thanked everyone for their time. The woman, who was Legate Rikke, as they were informed, gave them a pass for a boat they could take for Windhelm. Then Merina, Lydia, and Serana left. They went down to the docks and found the boat.

It was a small boat, one with no ornaments of the Legion or Solitude, but that was probably a good thing seeing as where they were going wasn't likely to respond well to a ship from either, The man tending to it didn't believe them at first when they said where they were going, but the pass convinced him. They all got on the boat.

He took them through the Sea of Ghosts, which wasn't all that dangerous, but they did stick close to the coast. It was a three days of being cold and constantly damp, if not outright wet from waves splashing against the ship, before they reached the port of Windhelm.

Windhelm was cold, just as cold as Winterhold, and only a tad less snowy. The imposing grey stone walls of the city went up and up and up. There was snow in every crevice. A friendly Argonian woman told them how to get into the city from the docks. They thanked her and were on their way.

They walked up to the gate, avoiding the broken steps where they could. Once they got to the gate, Serana commented, "They used to call Windhelm the "City of Kings". In my books, anyway."

Merina had a feeling on why that name had fallen out of style. There were piles of sediment all over the stairs. This didn't feel like a city of grandeur. This felt like a cage.

Once they got in, Merina could see that there were as many crevices and streets as the walls were tall. It felt like finding the the Palace of Kings took longer than the actually journey to Windhelm itself. Eventually, however, after going down many winding sheets that were enclosed by high walls, they found the town's center.

Suddenly, Merina could see why Windhelm was the City of Kings. There was a beautiful building, clearly well loved from the design of it connected to the walls guarding the palace. Those walls seemed to stretch on forever and when they walked through the entryway, they were able to see the palace.

The palace was incredible. Merina had heard that it was the last remnant of Atmoran architecture, but it was just… it took her breath away. It was larger, far larger than the Blue Palace in Solitude and magnificent in a different way. Where the Blue Palace was all about softness, with domes and softer angles on the walls, with a beautiful color pallet, the Palace of Kings was entirely different. It was all angles and hard edges, completely made of the same dark grey stone as the walls. The only round edges were that of the bronze doors that led into the palace itself to and some of the archways, though not the one the three had come in through.

Two guards opened the door for them, as they were too large for one person to do it alone. Merina thanked them and the three walked in.

Whereas the outside of the palace had been all grey, the inside was comparatively colorful. There were two long blue carpets that stretched from one side of the room to the other. Along the walls were banners of the same shade of blue, with some of them bearing a blue bear on them. Merina supposed that was the symbol of the Stormcloaks. There was a long table between the rugs covered with silver plates filled with food. At the end of the room, there was a large, stone throne throne with a shield covering two crossed swords at the top. It truly was a throne fit for a king.

And upon it was a man who called himself king, though many contested that. Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm. Merina walked up to him. Standing in front of that august looking throne, Merina felt rather small. Or, smaller than usual. But she would not be intimidated!

Ulfric looked at her for a second. Then, he seemed to be pleased. "I remember you. You were at Helgen with us! Come to join the war?"

"I'm afraid not. I have a message from the Greybeards—"

She didn't quite get to finish before Ulfric began to speak. "It's about time they turned their gaze from the heavens to our bleeding homeland. What do they want?"

Merina raised an eyebrow. She thought Ulfric was about the Nord traditions. That was what she had heard on the road at any rate. He apparently had a bone to pick with the Greybeards. "They're organizing a peace council. You need to come."

Unfortunately, Ulfric didn't just do what she wanted. "I have the utmost respect for the Greybeards, of course. And the dragon attacks are growing plague. But the political situation is still delicate. Not all the Jarls are supporting me as High King."

Merina saw red. She had enough of these politics and stuck up pride being the reason no one would get off their high horse about the war! "Politics be damned, Alduin has returned!"

That shocked Ulfric enough to almost jump out of the throne. "Alduin? The World Eater of song and legend? If that's true… well, it changes the situation, doesn't it? Yes, I'll give Tullius one more chance to quit Skyrim with his tail between his legs."

Merina didn't comment on how she didn't quite think Tullius had the authority to do that. Or that complete surrender wasn't the point to this whole meeting. All she was thinking about was how relieved she was that she'd actually made this happen. This peace council was going to happen.

Now she just needed to make sure that everyone would play nice.

Author's note: Thanks to everyone who read! As always, I own nothing and anything you recognize isn't mine.


	14. Season Unending

"The peace council held by the Greybeards is the first time in the records in which Merina is not a woman mentioned in passing, a background character that the chronicler thought of mentioning at the last minute. This is one of the few times that she becomes a prominent figure before she was declared empress. This is where she took charge and showed her mettle, not just as a warrior, but as a leader. In fact, this where one of the more famous quotes about the woman from this time period came from and this happened to be from someone who was actually there. 'She had risen to full height, looking far taller and imposing than she actually was. Her face was cold and there was a harsh, imperial expression on her face. Her words seemed to thunder and echo across the room. It seemed to all of us as if there was a storm cloud around her head. What one might even have called a storm crown.' "

—Life of the Empress Kintyra, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion

About a week after getting Ulfric to agree to go to the council, the three arrived at Ivarstead on horses that they had, for lack of a better word, rented. They left them by a farm with some carrots. It was the least they could when they were about to leave them in the cold for Divines knew how long. It took two or three hours before they reached High Hrothgar. But when they got to one of the large doors that lead into the ancient monastery, Merina stopped and took a deep breath. Her stomach felt like it was flipping.

'This is going to work. They'll all play nice and get along. They all have heard the danger, they have some sense. This'll work.'

But as soon as they got through the doors, they were stopped. The Imperials and the Stormcloaks seemed to be able to agree on something, and that was that no one could go into the council armed. So, in front of two officers, both Nords, one from each side, they had to remove all their weapons. Merina was asked to remove her helmet to make sure nothing was stashed there, and she complied. When the officers said that they needed proof that there were no more weapons in any of their possessions, Merina glared. "I, the Dragonborn, Ysmir, Dragon of the North, the Stormcrown, fated slayer of Alduin, have organized this council in an attempt for peace. Why in the world would I choose this to murder anyone? I do not have any stakes in this war. My only wish is for this to be settled so that the end of the world may be stopped."

The Imperial guard spoke up. "What about your associates?"

With that, Merina gave an even nastier glare. "To doubt them is to doubt me."

The guards said nothing more and let the three of them pass.

When they got back into the building, they saw Arngeir speaking with some familiar faces. Esbern and Delphine.

Her mother looked much better than she had the last time Merina saw her. She looked far healthier. Her eyes had a light Merina hadn't seen since she was a little girl. Her hair seemed a bit less dull, a bit more of the blonde Merina remembered and more full. The signs of her age hadn't gone away, that wasn't exactly possible, but she looked so much less haggard and stressed than she had before. Re-founding the Blades had done wonders for her happiness and it showed. And if her mother was happy, Merina was happy.

The moment Merina saw her mother, a smile made its way onto her face and she was about to run over and greet them, but that was when she heard the argument.

Delphine wasn't exactly nice when she came in. "So, Arngeir, is it? You know why we're here. Are you going to let us in or not?"

Arngeir was not pleased to see the Blades there, and that was putting it mildly. "You were not invited here. You are not welcome here."

"We have as much right to be here as all of you. More, actually, as we were the ones who put the Dragonborn on this path."

Arngeir was not pleased by what Delphine had said. "Were you? The hubris of the Blades truly knows no bounds."

Merina was about to step in, when Esbern did that for her. "Delphine, we're not here to rehearse old grudges. The matter at hand is urgent. Alduin must be stopped. You wouldn't have called this counsel if you didn't agree. We know a great deal about the situation and the threat that Alduin poses to us all. You need us here if you want this counsel to succeed."

Arngeir relented, but he sounded displeased. "Very well. You may enter."

Delphine and Esbern began to walk away, but not before Delphine snuck a warm smile toward Merina and gave a look of "We'll talk later". Merina knew that was what her mother meant. It was the same look Merina used herself.

Merina smiled back at her. She wouldn't say anything, but having her mother here made the task ahead seem far more easy. Her stomach still felt uneasy, but it was hardly flipping anymore.

She was going to follow her mother, but first she had to thank Arngeir once more. She walked up to him, but before she could say anything, Arngeir began speaking, "So, you've done it. The men of violence are now gathered here, in these halls whose very stones are dedicated to peace. I should have not agreed to this council. The Greybeards have no business involving themselves in such matters."

Merina slightly winced. "I know. I'm sorry. But I can get them to agree to peace, I know I can."

Arngeir didn't seemed mollified. He scoffed and said, "Peace? I doubt it. They may put their weapons down for a moment, but only to gain strength for the next bloodletting. Do you know the ancient Nord word for war?"

No, she didn't. How in the world was she supposed to know that? She guessed the question was rhetorical. Unless Arngeir thought her some master of ancient languages…

"Season unending. So it has proved. But regrets are pointless. Here we are. Take your seat at the council table so we may begin."

Arngeir led her to the room they were going to hold this council. It was large, with a oval shaped table in the middle. Everyone was standing at a chair in front of the table. The Imperials were on the left, with a full entourage filling up the chairs. Merina recognized most of the people there. There was General Tullius and Legate Rikke, of course. Jarl Balgruuf was there, which made sense, as it was his city Merina was going to endanger trying to capture Odahviing. Merina almost flew into a rage when she saw that Elenwen had been brought along too. She managed to smother it with a mantra of how she needed to focus on the big picture— the world was in danger of ending— not her own anger and hatred. It was difficult and that was putting it mildly. That anger simmered and brewed. Oh, how she would just love to…

But there was one person of the Imperial delegation that Merina didn't recognize. She was a Nord woman, though smaller than the other ones Merina had seen. She had auburn hair that was adorned with an intricately forged bronze circlet that was decorated by rubies and garnets. She wore a velvet dress that had silk embroidery on parts of it and fur around the shoulders. She had light green eyes and pretty, delicate features. She was obviously the youngest of both delegations. Merina had a feeling that they were about same age, even though this woman looked a bit younger.

This could only be Jarl Elisif the Fair.

It made sense. Who else would be dressed so well, be so young, and be a part of the delegation? There was also the fact that she sat right next to General Tullius on the left. Vaguely, Merina remembered that it was Jarl Elisif's husband, High King Torygg, that Ulfric Stormcloak had murdered. It couldn't have been easy to have to sit right across from her husband's killer. Merina had had many years to at least dull the pain of her father's killing. Elisif could have only had a few. That pain must still have been present. And to sit in the same room as…

Merina's sympathies immediately went out to the woman.

The Stormcloaks were sitting on the right side of the table, but there was only Galmar and Ulfric himself. Arngeir moved to a seat at the head of the table. Delphine and Esbern were also sitting on the right, but with a seat keeping the distance between the two groups.

Which meant that the only neutral seat left for Merina was the one right across from Arngeir. So if everyone wasn't looking at Arngeir, they were probably going to be looking at her as a leader.

The flipping in her stomach resumed in full force.

This was going to suck.

It was Arngeir who directed them to sit. "Now that everyone is here, take your seats, so we may begin."

For a moment, no one moved. Each person just stood right where they were, es if they were waiting for someone else to sit first. At least, that was how Merina was feeling.

It was all Merina could do not to just run out of the room right then and there. She was biting the inside of her lip and wringing her hands, which were feeling a bit clammy. She took a quiet, deep breath. Then another. Then, she sat and placed her helmet on the table in front of her.

As soon as Merina sat, Arngeir did the same. With the two of them affirming that it was time to do what they had all come for, everyone who had a seat sat, with Lydia and Serana standing behind Merina's chair like bodyguards.

Merina had been a bit to hasty when she thought that everyone had sat down. Everyone had, except for two people. Ulfric Stormcloak and Galmar Stone-Fist. They stayed standing, with expressions that conveyed a feeling of righteous fury. It was so quiet, Merina could have heard a pin drop. She was just waiting with unease for the explosion that was now bound to happen.

Ulfric's voice cut through the quiet like a knife through butter. "No. You insult us by bringing her to this negotiation? Your chief Talos hunter?"

Merina bit back a groan. Ten seconds into the negotiations and something had already gone terribly wrong. Great. Just great.

Legate Rikke, who was sitting right next to Merina on her left, clearly felt the same way. "That didn't take long."

Merina wasn't sure who the legate had directed that comment to, or if she had been saying it to anyone at all, but she thought it best not to respond. At this point, it was all she could do not to let out an aggravated sigh or faint from nerves. Merina could steel herself to fight Alduin. Trying to be politically savvy? That was a different story.

Merina was pretty sure that she hear Jarl Balgruuf mutter from across the room, "Diplomatic as usual."

Galmar Stone-Fist seemed to be the only one pleased by Ulfric's deceleration, as he let out a, "Hear, hear!

Elenwen didn't seem moved by any of this. "I have every right to be at this negotiation. I need to ensure that nothing agreed to hear violates the terms of the White-Gold Concordat."

'Oh, go shove your Concordat up your—'

Before Merina could finish that thought, General Tullius was voicing agreement with what Elenwen had said. "She's part of the Imperial delegation. You can't dictate who I bring to this council."

Arngeir stepped in. "Please! If we have to negotiate the terms of the negotiation, we will never get anywhere."

Finally, someone had some sense about this all!

But Arngeir continued and she wasn't as happy with his next statement. "Perhaps it's time for the Dragonborn's input."

Merina wanted to a send a glare his way, but she held back. After all, it was her who had called council and Merina supposed that did make her sort of in charge of it. Perhaps Arngeir was just trying to give her some authority. Even if this did feel a bit like he was trying to foist the decision and any anger that came with it on her. After all, she wasn't a venerated Greybeard. True, she was the Dragonborn, but nobody in living memory probably remembered what that meant. Arngeir could get away with a lot more than she could and yet, the decision was going to her.

And Elenwen. Of course he was asking her to make a decision on that thing's presence.

She could get rid of Elenwen. She could make her leave right now. Oh that would feel good. To get at some revenge, even it was the smallest thing possible. She just wanted the pointy green face gone. It would feel good. It would feel really good.

But General Tullius had a point. Ulfric Stormcloak and Merina couldn't decide who could and couldn't come. There was legal precedent that the general was in the right. If she wanted to remain impartial, she couldn't let her feelings influence her rulings in this council, she had to let Elenwen stay. If she ever wanted to be impartial in whatever decision she was making, she would have to keep her feelings out of this.

But this was her father's murderer! How could she call herself a good daughter, a loyal daughter, when she would do something like that? It was like spitting on his grave!

What kind of daughter was she if she let this monster stay?

Merina didn't have any more time to stew, as the general began to speak to her. "I can't be making concessions before negotiations even start. It makes the Empire look weak."

But this was her father. She couldn't— she just…

She let a sigh of defeat and shame. She looked at the table and silently hoped that her father would forgive her for this. Finally, she looked up. She finally managed to suck up enough courage to say unhappily, "Legally, the Imperial delegation is allowed to bring whomever they wish, unless the person in question is a wanted criminal and or enemy of the state. The… Thalmor Ambassador to Skyrim may stay, if she and the delegation she is with so chooses."

Surprisingly, Ulfric didn't fight the ruling. All he had to say was, "But she is to observe, nothing more. We are not negotiating with her, is that clear?"

There was a hurt look on Elenwen's face, but Merina could see a predatory gleam in her eyes. "Ulfric, why so hostile? After all, it's not the Thalmor that's burning your farms and killing your sons."

That thing certainly knew how to do her job of torturer well.

From her left, Merina heard Legate Rikke mutter, "She's supposed to be on our side?"

Merina had to agree with her. The Thalmor weren't allies. They were just spiders spinning their webs, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Just another reason to hate her, if there weren't enough already.

Ulfric was fuming and barely holding off anger. "You know exactly— no. Not this time."

With that, Merina remembered she wasn't the only one who had suffered directly because of Elenwen and the Thalmor. She might have lost her father, but Ulfric was tortured Elenwen.

And as soon as she remembered that, Merina remembered the dossier. In the commotion of trying to organize the council, she had forgotten. She would have to give it to him after this meeting.

Arngeir decided to close the matter before things got even more out of hand. "Now that that's settled, may we proceed?"

"I have something to say first."

Good gods, Merina could not believe that Ulfric Stormcloak was more of a problem at this meeting than Elenwen! What did he want now?

Legate Rikke seemed to know that he was going to something that would anger just about everyone. "Here we go."

"The only reason I agreed to attend this council was to deal with the dragon menace."

Okay, why did he feel the need to proclaim this? They were trying to come to peace so that they could deal with said menace. What was the point of this?

"There's nothing else to talk about, unless the Empire is finally ready to renounce its unjust claim to rule over the free people of Skyrim."

By the Nine, why did he have to say these things?! He was just making this council even more difficult than it already was going to be. Merina felt the oncoming of a headache.

Legate Rikke didn't seem shocked by his behavior. "I knew he wouldn't be able to resist."

"We're here to negotiate a temporary truce to allow the Dragonborn to deal with the dragons. Nothing more."

Yes. That was the point of this. Why did he have to around infuriating people before saying that?

"I consider even talking to the Empire a generous gesture."

Sweet Talos, he just had to make this even worse. Couldn't leave it at the one sensible thing he'd said. No. He just had to go around angering everyone else even more. Whatever Merina had for him was quickly evaporating. He might a sad story, but he was being a bellicose idiot at the moment at a council that was trying to prevent the end of the world. Now was not the time to be all patriotic about your freedom cause! And she'd thought that General Tullius would be the most aggravating in this whole thing seeing as he didn't see the threat the dragons posed. She'd thought that Ulfric would go for something neutral because he actually understood the threat. It seemed things were the opposite of what she had originally believed this council would be like. She just hoped things wouldn't get worse.

Thankfully, the general had some sense. "Are you done? Did you just come here to make speeches? Or can we get down to business?"

Thankfully, Ulfric didn't put up a fuss this time. "Yes. Let's get this over with."

Arngeir once again stepped in. "Are we ready to begin?"

As no one said anything, Arngeir continued. "Jarl Ulfric. General Tullius. This council is unprecedented. We are here at the Dragonborn's request."

Arngeir really liked reminding people that this was all her idea, didn't he?

"I ask that you all respect the spirit of High Hrothgar and and do your best to begin the process of achieving a lasting peace in Skyrim. Who would like to open negotiations?"

Once again, it was Ulfric who spoke first. "Yes, let's get down to it. We want control of Markarth. That is our price for agreeing to a truce."

Merina had the sudden urge to start slamming her head on table. Ulfric Stormcloak was the one who said he understood the danger and yet he was making demands over land? Well, she shouldn't have been surprised at this point. He was making nothing but trouble here so far. Why change his stripes now?

Nobody on the Imperial side seemed happy by this demand, but Jarl Elisif was the only one to speak against it. "So this is why you're here, Ulfric? You dare to insult the Greybeards by using this council to advance your own position?"

At least Elisif had the courage to speak up. General Tullius, however, didn't seem to appreciate that courage too much, as he said in a sharp tone "Jarl Elisif—"

Elisif cut him off. "General, this is outrageous! You can't be taking this demand seriously! I thought we were here to discuss a truce!"

'So did I,' thought Merina, 'So did I.'

"Elisif. I said I'd handle this." He turned to look at Ulfric. "Ulfric, you can't seriously expect us to give up Markarth on the negotiating table. You hope to gain in council what you've been unable to take in battle, it that it?"

Arngeir attempted to maintain the peace. "I'm sure Jarl Ulfric does not expect something for nothing."

Legate Rikke seemed to doubt that. "Yes, that'd would be entirely out of character."

Arngeir once again attempted to make everyone play nice, though that seemed a bit hopeless to Merina. "What would the Empire like in return?"

Elisif seemed horrified. "Wait. General, you don't intend to give Markarth to that… traitor!"

Jarl Balgruuf seemed a bit less vehement, but he hardly seemed happier about that. "This is how the Empire repays us for our loyalty?"

"Enough!" General Tullius' gruff voice rang out. It keep Elisif and Balgruuf quiet, but the slightest glance from Merina would have been more than enough to see that they were less than pleased about this. The general turned back to the Stormcloaks. "First, let's be clear, this council wasn't my idea. I think it's a waste of time. You are a traitor to the Empire and deserve a traitor's death. But I will at least negotiate in good faith."

But then, General Tullius turned to Merina. "Since we're all here at your request, I'd like to hear what you think Markarth is worth."

Merina sighed and thought for a moment. Riften or Winterhold. Winterhold was near the city of Windhelm. Being right on Ulfric's doorstep meant the Imperials could press an advantage. But Riften was a hold that bordered Cyrodiil. It would secure communications and make sure that the Heartland wasn't threatened. That was something that was always needed, especially in winter. Cautiously and hesitantly, she said, "I suppose… Riften."

"Hmm. The Rift would secure our communications with Cyrodiil… and threaten Ulfric's southern flank…"

General Tullius turned to Ulfric. "You heard the woman. We've made you a fair offer. Are you serious about these talks or are you just hear to posture?"

Ulfric and Galmar immediately got out of their seats. Ulfric was the one to speak first and it was to Merina he issued his complaint. "I expected better from you, Dragonborn. I came here in good faith and now it seems you help the Empire at every turn."

Merina, if she was a bit more calm, probably would have known it was better not to respond to this. Sure, Ulfric was being a real hypocrite right now, but Merina needed him to work with her. However, Merina wasn't calm. As soon as he said that, she too immediately got out of her seat. "Came here in good faith? Don't delude yourself! We all get here and the first thing you do is make demands that have nothing to do with coming to peace! Meanwhile I came here to stop the end of the world— may I repeat, the end of the world!— but clearly you, despite your claims to the contrary, don't care about stopping the dragons at all! You just want to grab as much power as you can, damn the consequences!"

The room was incredibly silent for a moment. Then Ulfric turned to Galmar. "Come on, Galmar, let's go. I should have listened to you in the first place."

There was a ringing sound and a pounding going on in Merina's head. She felt her blood boil and he fists clench and unclench. She suddenly realized that she was biting her lip and almost drawing blood.

Before he could leave, Merina was going to put a stop to all of this.

Merina slammed her fist on the table, startling everyone. Now that everyone was looking at her (admittedly looking at her like they thought she was a lunatic) she drew herself up to full height. Her posture was straight, but not ramrod, and she kept her head up, though not in a snobbish way. Her hands lay at her side and her feet seemed almost clamped together. She had stopped biting her lip, so at least she no longer looked so worried. At least, she thought she didn't look worried. She tried to keep her expression looking like she at least had some authority, some position of power. If she looked like she did, then perhaps others would believe it. She let the silence hang in the air for a moment before speaking. With some difficulty, she said "Ulfric Stormcloak, please… stay here, at least for a moment. My comment was out of line and I am sure we can come to some… neutral agreement."

When she saw that neither of the two Stormcloaks were leaving and that both he and Galmar Stone-Fist were back in their seats, she then turned to her left to acknowledge the Imperial delegation, "General Tullius."

Now that she had acknowledged them both, she turned back to the middle, directly across from Arngeir. She made sure to turn her head at times to look at everyone, but she was trying to remain impartial, even if she was struggling to keep a glare off of her face. "I did not go to the trouble of gathering you, generals, a legate, and the Jarls on both sides here so that we could all debate land and Holds. I have gathered you all here because Alduin, the World Eater, the firstborn of Akatosh, he devours the living and the dead has returned. His one purpose, his one desire, is to destroy us all. And this will not end when we are all dead. Alduin devours the souls of the dead."

Everyone was staring at Merina. The Nords and Esbern were looking at her with amazement. Incredulity was on General Tullius' face, while Elenwen could not hide horror on her face. There was a pleased look on Delphine's face.

Did Merina just grow wings or something?

But she didn't have time to ask that or dwell on it, as Elenwen interrupted her. "A very pretty speech but what does it have to do with…"

Merina raised an eyebrow. "It has everything to do with this war and this council. Your conflict is feeding his power. This war is causing a world eating, people destroying dragon of song and legend to become even more powerful than he already is. And the stronger he grows, the less likely his defeat becomes. If we sit here bargaining over land, instead of coming to peace, Alduin will kill us all. He sees no difference in Stormcloak or Imperial. We must work together, not divide, if we wish to stop him. I did not call all of you here so that you could squabble and put all of our lives at risk over petty disputes of land. I called you all here so that we can stop the end of the world."

Merina continued on, her voice hard and almost betraying the anger and frustration she felt. "This is what we are going to do. We will not argue on who controls what. Whatever you hold now, that is what you will have. No one will gain territory from this council. There will be no more battles while this truce is in effect. The war will remain in stasis. An official from the Imperial side and an official from the Stormcloak side who will stay in Dragonsreach. I will trap this dragon, find out where Alduin is, kill him once and for all, and then I shall return to Dragonsreach. Once the two representatives leave the Hold of Whiterun, the truce will end. These are the terms. Is there anyone who does not find that satisfactory?"

That last part was said in a rather threatening tone. But Merina was well beyond caring at this point.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then Arngeir said, "You both agree to this?"

Ulfric was the first to agree. "The Sons of Skyrim will live up to their agreements. So long as the Imperials hold to theirs." Suddenly, his speech took a different turn. "What about you, Elisif? Are these terms to your liking? Speak up! I'm sure General Tullius is waiting to do your bidding."

Okay, if she hadn't disliked Ulfric before he said that, she would now. Having dealt with his previous behavior, this just made her hate him. He might be a victim of Elenwen and she sympathized with that. But it didn't make any of what he saying or doing no alright. Merina had done a little asking around about this civil war. Apparently, according to some, Ulfric had killed the High King in "honorable combat". Well, what he was doing right now was as far from honorable as he could get. How dare he taunt the widow of the man he murdered! And for all Merina cared, he could go rot in Mankor Cameron's paradise. She wasn't going to let him learn of his innocence in the fall of the Imperial City. Let him feel that guilt. She hoped it would simmer and drag him down until there was nothing but bitterness and self hatred. Merina could no longer find it within herself to pity him.

Elisif responded a lot better than Merina would have in the same situation. "I have nothing to say to that murderer." Then, she looked at General Tullius. "General, you've proven yourself a good friend to Skyrim. I continue to trust that you will do your utmost to safeguard our interests."

"Thank you, Jarl Elisif. I appreciate your loyalty." Then General Tullius turned back to the Stormcloaks. "The Empire can live with these terms, yes. For a temporary truce, until the dragon menace is dealt with. After that, Ulfric… there will be a reckoning. Count on it."

With that, Ulfric and Galmar got up and left. Their part in this was done. "Come on, Galmar. We have a lot of work to do."

However, the council wasn't over yet, as Merina quickly realized when Arngeir said, "Jarl Balgruuf, I assume you are familiar with the Dragonborn's plan?"

"Yes. I'm ready to do my part." He turned his head to look at Merina. "Just say the word and my men will help you spring the trap."

Arngeir still had another question. "But the difficulty remains— how to lure a dragon in Dragonsreach at all?"

General Tullius didn't seem to like being reminded that he didn't know if this would actually work at all. "Well that's an excellent question. You haven't overlooked that little detail, have you?"

"No, I haven't. I'll use his name— it'll work like a Shout, which will, um—"

For some reason, Merina just couldn't figure out how to explain it and because of that, no one seemed to understand what she was saying. Truth be told, Merina wasn't really sure what Paarthurnax had told her. That may have been part of it. "I'm not very good at explaining this."

Thankfully, Esbern stepped in to help. "I believe I can be of help here. While you were arranging this meeting, I was busy in the library of Sky Haven Temple. An unguessed trove of lost lore… but the important thing is that the Blades recorded the names of many of the dragons they slew. Cross referencing this with Delphine's map of dragon burial sites, I believe I've identified one of the dragons that Alduin has raised up. I'm no master of the Voice like these gentlemen here, but it's written here in this scroll."

Esbern held it up for everyone to see. "Od-Ah-Viing. Winged-Snow-Hunter, as I read it."

Merina smiled and nodded. "Yes, that would be the dragon. Good job on the translation, how did you figure it out?"

General Tullius interjected before Merina and Esbern could get off topic. "How will that get a dragon to Dragonsreach?"

"The names of dragons are always three Words of Power— Shouts. By calling the dragon, he will hear Merina wherever he might be."

Legate Rikke didn't seem convinced either. "And he'll just come to Dragonsreach like that?"

"He's not compelled to, but dragons are prideful by nature and loathe to refuse a challenge. The Dragonborn's Voice in particular is likely to intrigue this dragon, after your victory over Alduin. I find it very likely that he will be unable to resist her call."

'So I'm sending off some huge mating call into the sky,' Merina thought. 'Lovely.'

General Tullius didn't seem convinced, but a word from Legate Rikke seemed to make him drop the matter, even if he still didn't seem filled with confidence. At that, there was nothing left to say in the council and the delegation got up from their seats. Before leaving, the legate said one last thing. "I hope is truce gives you what you need. It won't last."

After that, the delegation left. Arngeir left the room without speaking to Merina, evidently still angry about even arranging the peace council in the first place. Delphine and Esbern had stayed, as had Lydia and Serana, who still stood behind the chair Merina was sitting in. They still looked like bodyguards.

Merina got out of her seat when she saw her mother approaching. She smiled in greeting. They would finally be able to talk. What with all that had been going on, Merina had barely had time to write a short memo of a letter, much less managed to get to have a full on face to face conversation with the woman.

Delphine smiled back at her, but seemed to have something else on her mind, she seemed distracted. She seemed to mull something over, but then cut to the chase. "We know about Paarthurnax."

It took a second for Merina to realize what her mother meant. "Oh, yes, he's a dragon. I know, it freaked me out too. But you don't need to worry, he helped me. He's done nothing but help me and give me advice. He was the one who originally told me how to summon Odahviing. He helped me fight Alduin. He's not going to hurt anyone."

Delphine sighed, almost as if she was reprimanding the Merina of many years ago not to eat her dinner before everyone else sat down. "Yes, he will. He helped Alduin enslave our ancestors. He committed atrocities so famous, they are still remembered, thousands of years later. He may have betrayed Alduin in the end, but that makes him worse, not better. He needs to die. He deserves to die. And it falls to you to kill him."

Merina instinctively took a step back, almost knocking into her chair as she did. "What?! No! Mother, I'm not going to murder someone who has only helped me!"

"Oh, so now that one's been nice to you, killing dragons is no longer okay? You didn't seem so enthusiastic to just sit down and have a nice talk when you went around as a mercenary killing dragons left and right!"

For a moment, Merina was taken aback. Because, her mother had a point, about justice and people (or in this case, dragons) paying for their crimes, and maybe, maybe just a little about the hypocrisy.

And it hurt to have her mother talk in that harsh, cutting tone. It cut through, like a knife through butter. For a moment, Merina could almost taste the silence. It hung in the air, heavy and thick. It oozed off the walls, it

But Merina had a better point. In what was practically a yell, she said, "Mother, I'm not being a hypocrite about not murdering someone who saved my life! I would be dead without him! I'm not arguing about this!"

Their voices had both been near yelling since the beginning of the argument, but suddenly, her mother was very quiet. In a cold, almost calm voice, she said, "Until Paarthurnax is dead… well I'm sorry, but Esbern and I would dishonor our oaths as Blades if we continued to help you."

Merina looked away, just wanting to look at anything but her mother. In a voice that managed to be quiet, but failed at sounding calm, she said, "Well then. If your oath as a Blade is more important than your daughter, then fine. Have it your way, because I am not killing Paarthurnax."

With that, Merina turned and almost ran out of the room, pride being the only thing that kept her from outright sprinting. Her eyes stung and their was an uncomfortable lump in her throat, but she refused to let herself cry. She wasn't going to give her mother the satisfaction. And Merina wasn't going to let herself think that she was anything less than decisive on what she'd just said. She was not going to murder Paarthurnax.

She didn't look to see if Lydia and Serana were following, she only saw red. She just had to get out here.

She practically stomped out of High Hrothgar, which kind of made her look like a toddler, but she couldn't care less at the moment. She pushed the doors back as hard as she could as soon as she got out the building.

"My Thane, watch where you are throwing those doors."

Merina turned and attempted to give an apologetic smile, but it failed. "I'm sorry. I'm just so…"

"Angry?"

"That would cover it, Lydia."

Serana didn't say anything, but Merina could feel the animosity pouring off of her. And Merina also had a slight feeling that it was directed at her. Merina didn't know why Serana was angry at her, but she didn't want to ask. If Serana wanted to bring it up, Serana would bring it up. Now was not when Merina wanted to rock the boat by starting a fight.

Well, as they were walking down High Hrothgar, about half way down and Merina was still half stomping, Merina learned just what was angering Serana. Apperantly, Serana had been stewing the entire way and suddenly, she just blew up. At least, as much as Serana could blow up. She was shaking, parts of her usually perfectly coiffed hair were out of place, but her voice was mostly calm. "You shouldn't have said that to your mother."

Merina frowned, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Serana didn't seem to have heard her. "You should have stayed polite. You should have apologized—"

"What do you mean apologize?! She was asking me to murder someone!"

Serana continued to ignore Merina, completely wrapped up in what she was saying. "Don't you know how lucky you are to have a mother that loves you? That actually cares about you?"

"If my mother cared about me, she would understand why I'm not killing Paarthurnax! And she never would have left—"

As soon as that word had come out of her mouth, Merina was suddenly silent. That was a subject she was not getting into. Not now and, hopefully, if Merina had any say in it, not ever.

Serana seemed to have nothing left to say and Merina was in no mood for conversation. The rest of the journey down the mountain was silent, except for a few comments from Lydia that were obvious attempts to relieve the tension.

When they got back down to Ivarstead, they found Jarl Balgruuf, his Housecarl, Irileth, and other guards waiting for them. As it turned out, the Jarl had waited in the town so he could give them a ride. Merina thanked him and they all left.

Through out the ride, Merina stomach felt like it was doing back flips. She and Serana still weren't talking and it would be awkward to just talk to Lydia. So Merina just thought. All through out the two day ride, when she wasn't thinking about how insane her plan was, she was thinking about her mother. She would just stare off into the distance and her mind would wander to their argument. Merina's fists would clench and her throat would tighten and her chest would constrict and she would immediately be pulled back into that anger. It always took more than a moment to be pulled out of that.

When she wasn't brooding over her mother, Merina was sleeping. And she dreamed.

Of course she did. At this point, it would be stranger if she didn't dream.

The dream was… odd, to say the least. She was on a path, in a place she did not recognize. Mist was in front of and behind her, but it seemed to push away at her presence. In the far distance, she could see a hall, more beautiful than any place she had ever seen. In front of the hall was a large bridge of bone. Merina would try and cross the bridge, but the hall, the bridge, and everything else would simply dissolve. And she would wake up.

She had just woken up from having that dream for what seemed like the umpteenth time when they reached Whiterun. Lydia looked like she was on the verge of shaking Merina to get her up. Perhaps

Merina got out of carriage, her stomach flipping even more than ever. Here she was. She was actually going to attempt this plan. Once she attempted it, there was no going back. And if this didn't work… a lot of people in Whiterun could get hurt.

But she had to do this. Risky or not, the alternative of doing nothing meant certain death for everyone. So with a heavy heart, she, Lydia, and Serana followed the Jarl, Irileth, and the Jarl's men to Dragonsreach.

Author's note: I know this was a little shorter than usual, but this seemed the best place to end the chapter. I unfortunately had to get rid of some of my favorite Esbern and Delphine dialogue, but it just got cut. This chapter is a lot different that I originally imagined it. Merina's yelling at Ulfric never happened, that just came in as I was righting. Esbern's speech was still in and Merian just went along with everyone arguing. People got land and the money for massacres. But that original idea just didn't work with the characterization I gave Merina as I was writing. By the way, I edited the chapter to add the dream. I hadn't played through much of the Sovngarde quest and I had completely forgotten what the soldier said, so I added the dream. As always, I own nothing and anything you recognize isn't mine. Thanks to everyone who read!


	15. The World Eater's Eyrie

_"Skuldafn. This is the recorded place of where Merina entered Sovngarde. However, no one knows if this place truly exists. While this part of the empress' memoirs survived and do say that it Skuldafn, she may have had a reason to lie. All the sources that say Skuldafn are based on the empress' words. She said that,' The only way to reach Skuldafn is by a dragon, the rocks of the mountain are far too steep and treacherous for anyone, animal or man, to climb.' The fact that this claim cannot be proven or disproven makes it rather suspect and is a reminder that anyone who records history has bias and, more importantly, can lie. Real or not, however, the poetic name that Merina gave it would be remembered for hundreds of years because of its great ability to be put in stories and songs. She called it, 'The World Eater's Eryie."_

—_Life of the Empress Kintyra, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

The way to the palace seemed longer than it ever had before. Everyone moved to the sides of the streets when they saw the Jarl pass. Merina, Lydia, and Serana were able to use that to their advantage and moved quickly enough not to get sucked into the crowd.

When they finally got to the steps that led up to the palace, Merina felt like they were the steps to High Hrothgar. She felt like all the air had been sucked out of her.

'Get it together! I've gotten this far! I am _not _going to be cowed by some regular old dragon! I've killed at least twenty of those! The thought of _capturing _one isn't going to to scare me away! And I fought _Alduin_! I _won_! I've survived him _twice_, three times if you count Kynesgrove! If I could fight Alduin—_and beat him_!— I can capture one dragon!'

But those thoughts, however true they might have been, did nothing to stop her stomach from doing its acrobatics. She swallowed a couple of times and took a couple deep breaths, but those didn't do anything to calm her stomach either.

But it would be weird for her to just keep standing there, so she, Lydia, and, rather belatedly, Serana followed after Jarl Balgruuf and Irileth.

When they entered the palace, a sense of déjà-vu hit Merina like a lightning spell to the chest. This was where she had first warned Jarl Balgruuf about the dragon that hit Helgen.

Helgen.

That was where this had all really started. Merina didn't like to think about Helgen. She still remembered the roaring that had signaled Alduin's approach. She still remembered the confusion and panic that came like an aftershock of an earthquake. She still remembered that red sky. She still remembered that smell of charred and burning flesh, of muscle peeling off bone, the nausea that she felt. She remembered the sight of all that tower breaking, the feeling and sound keep shaking, and the sight of those bodies. Those bodies. There had been so _many_.

What had happened to those corpses? Did someone bury them? Or did they still lie in Helgen? Did they still lie in that broken city, a testament to the power of a dragon?

Had anyone but the soldiers escaped? Merina remembered a little boy, one that Hadvar had saved. Did he get out of the city? Where was he now? How did he deal with all of this? Merina had dragon slaying to keep her from drowning in it. What did that little boy have?

And _why_? That was her biggest question. Why had Alduin come to Helgen in the first place? If he had risen at the Throat of the World like Paarthurnax had said, why had he come to Helgen of all places? What was the importance of Helgen? It was a small town, not worth anything in the grand scheme of things. If Alduin was trying to end the world, why start with _Helgen_?

But those questions were pointless now. The only question that she needed an answer to was if she could trap Odahviing. So she followed the Jarl and his Housecarl, past the throne and up the stairs into a large upper room. A room with two mammoth sized doors, a large map on a stone table with shelves behind it.

Merina remembered this room. Irileth had brought her up to here when a guard had brought news of a dragon. Jarl Balgruuf had told Merina to join Irileth and the guards to fight the dragon. He had said since she had survived Helgen, she was the most qualified person on dragons.

Qualified. She had _survived_. She had not fought the dragon. She had not stood against him. She took one look at Alduin and _she had run away_. _Everyone_ had run away. Soldier and citizen alike.

But now it was time to take the fight to Alduin. She could no longer run away. No one could run away. She had to capture Odahviing and find out where Alduin was.

So she would follow Jarl Balgruuf and Irileth when two guards the gargantuan doors. But first, she needed to talk to Lydia and Serana.

The two seemed surprised when she turned around to face them, as they nearly ran into her. Merina took a deep breath. She seemed to be doing that a lot these days. It was her calming mechanism. She'd used it ever since she was little. Except, when she was little, it was about being frightened of nightmares of werewolves and terror at the mere thought of Hermaeus Mora. Now it was about facing world ending dragons. Good gods, world ending dragons. If anyone had told her just five months ago that dragons had returned, Merina had fought dragons, Merina had _killed_ dragons, that there was a _world destroying dragon_, and that she was supposed to kill him, Merina would have responded with more than a little skepticism. She probably would have laughed in their faces or wondered how much skooma they'd been taking. _World ending dragons_. The thought was ridiculous. She supposed this is how people would have thought three hundred years ago about the Oblivion Crisis, if they'd been told what would happen, just decades later. They probably would have laughed or thought the person had drank too much, or was just plain crazy.

_World ending dragons_.

But there was no getting around that this, world ending dragons, was reality, no matter how impossible it might have seemed. And she needed to have a backup plan just in case she couldn't kill Alduin. After her failure at the Throat of the World, she wasn't sure that Alduin could be killed. She had nearly convinced herself that he could, but still… there was a bit of doubt left in her mind. And even if Alduin wasn't immortal, that didn't mean that Merina was actually able to kill him.

But Merina didn't have any better ideas as how to deal with Alduin. She didn't think he was the type to sit down and have a nice, rational conversation with humanity and would just give up his plans of world destruction. So she followed after the Jarl, she, Lydia, and Serana all managed to slip in through the gargantuan sized doors before they began to close. Merina took a deep breath to steady herself.

She was doing this. She was actually doing this.

The doors had let out to a large balcony, with braziers being the only light close to the doors. There were a couple of large gears that Merina could see in the starlight. There was an upper level where guards were hiding, waiting to pull a lever that would set off the trap. Jarl Balgruuf was under the upper levels, practically invisible in the shadows. He explained how the trap would work, but after that, he didn't say anything. He merely nodded. At least, Merina was pretty certain that he had nodded. It was difficult to tell. She gave one last look and smile to Lydia and Serana, who were already moving to hide in the upper level's shadows, keeping out of sight, like Merina had asked them to after knowing how the trap would work.

Merina took another deep breath, and walked to the edge of the balcony.

She could see all of Whiterun from where she was standing. All the candles in all the windows, the smoke pluming out of chimneys and away from fire pits. She could see the shops and the homes, the small stream that ran through all of the city and flowed out into a river, and out of the corner of her eye, the ornate staircase that led up to Dragonsreach. Above her, it was cloudy, but an aurora borealis shone through all the grey clouds. Masser and Secunda glowed. For a moment, Merina felt an itch on her nose and a lump in her throat. Had the world ever been so beautiful? And had she ever noticed before that night?

But this was not the time for sightseeing. She had a job to do and it wasn't crying over the beauty of stars. She took a final deep breath, this one both for calming and for gathering the strength to Shout. With the amount air she needed, she let it out in a loud, full Shout. "Od–Ah–Viing!"

For a second, nothing happened. Then, Merina could hear the beating of wings against the sky. For a moment, she thought it was Alduin, but the sound was not like thunder, not nearly as loud and harsh. Within only a few beats of those wings, the dragon had arrived.

He was a large, red dragon, but Merina didn't have time to focus on what he looked like, as, rather predictably, the moment the dragon appeared, he attacked. Merina and some of the guards who weren't going to spring the trap attacked the thing with arrows, avoiding streams of fire sent at them.

Just when Odahviing got close to the balcony, as close as he could get without landing, Merina unleashed another Shout. "Joor Zah Frul!"

The dragon unleashed a horrible cry, as if Merina had just dealt a mortal blow, but Merina could see the Shout begin to take effect. In an attempt to avoid death by hurdling to the ground, the dragon managed to get himself onto the balcony.

'Perfect.'

The dragon did not seem dismayed, however. He called out to her, "Dovahkiin, here I am!"

Now that the dragon was on the balcony, Merina only needed to lure him back. The guards ran away, back into the palace, in what was, even though that was an agreed on part of the plan, probably real fear. Now Merina was the only one fighting Odahviing.

But instead of going at it with her normal gusto, Merina only shot a couple of arrows a minute, looking frightened as she did, her hands shaking, barely able to stay on the bow. She just kept moving back, farther and farther in.

The dragon took the bait and followed after her, step by step, inch by inch, foot by foot.

'Just a little closer.'

And then, the dragon fell into place. The guards pulled a lever that set the large gears into motion. Before the dragon could react, a large wooden beam that rounded up in the middle and had a metal band that kept his head in place fell on him. He was trapped.

At that, Merina stopped moving back and dropped her expression of fear. She sauntered up to the dragon, who seemed to have realized the futility of attempting to escape, but he did cry out, "Nid!"

Merina guessed that "Nid" was the dragon word "No". It certainly fit at the moment.

The guards still seemed nervous, but one said, "I think it's holding!"

'Let's hope it continues to do so.' Merina thought. In that moment, she realized just how old the trap must have been and just how long it must have been since it was used. Jarl Balgruuf had oiled all the chains and made it usable, but none of them had any idea how long the trap would work. Or if it was still capable of working. They hadn't exactly been able to test it out. A knot of worry formed in Merina's stomach.

She refused to let it show, however, and stayed where she was in front of Odahviing. She questions and she wasn't going to let a little worry stop herself from getting the answers. She didn't really have much of a choice at this point.

Odahviing, however, had something to say first. "Horvutah med kodaav. Caught like a bear in a trap…"

Merina would say that was about accurate.

"Zoom frini grind ko grah drunk viiki, Dovahkiin."

Merina must have had a blank expression on her face, as the dragon realized his mistake. "Ah. I forget. You do not have the dovah speech. My… eagerness to meet you in battle was my… undoing, Dovahkiin. I salute your, hmm, low cunning in devising such a grahmindol— stratagem."

Merina felt rather proud of herself at that, even if low cunning was an insult hidden in a compliment. "Well, I can't claim it was all my idea. Paarthurnax gave me the idea. The moving back and simply letting you move into the trap yourself was my own invention though."

If dragons could grimace, Odahviing would probably be doing that right now. "Zu'u bonaar. You went to a great deal of trouble to get me in this… humiliating position. Hind siiv Alduin, hmm? No doubt you want to know where to find Alduin."

"Yes, that would be what I want. So where's he hiding?"

"Minik vozah. An apt phrase. Alduin bovul. One reason I came here was to test your Thu'um for myself. Many of us have began to question Alduin's lordship, whether his Thu'um was truly the strongest. Among ourselves, of course. Mu ni mayye. None were yet ready to openly defy him."

Well that was an awfully convenient statement. Next Odahviing would be telling her that all dragons wanted was a world of sunshine and rainbows. "You were telling me where Alduin is?"

"Unslaad krosis. Innumerable pardons. I digress. He has traveled to Sovngarde to regain his strength, devouring the sillesejoore… the souls of the mortal dead. A privilege he jealously guards…"

_Sovngarde_. Nine Divines, she was going to go to _Sovngarde_! She wasn't off on her guess of going to Oblivion! But _how_…

Odahviing answered that unspoken question. "His door to Sovngarde is at Skuldafn, one of his ancient fanes, high in the eastern mountains."

Merina guessed that she was going to have to do a lot of mountain climbing in the near future. She just loved the idea of that.

"Mindoraan, pah ok middovahhe lohvraan til. I surely do not need to warn you that all his remaining strength is marshaled there."

Of course it would be.

Odahviing had a request. "Zu'u lost ofan hin laan… now that I have answered your question, you will allow me to go free?"

Merina thought about it for a moment. True, Odahviing had answered her question and even given her a little more information. But who was to say that he was telling the truth? And even if he was, if she let him go, he could just kill her where she stood. Or go tell Alduin her plan. Or kill her on her way to Skuldafn. Merina wasn't stupid enough to just let Odahviing go, no questions asked. "You'll be set free when Alduin is dead."

"Ah. Well. Hmm… krosis. There is one… detail about Skuldafn I neglected to mention."

_Oh no_.

Tentatively, Merina asked, "And… what would that little detail be?"

'Please let be something easy to deal with. Please let be something minor.'

"You have the Thu'um of a dovah, but without the wings of one, you will never set foot on Skuldafn."

Of course it had to be something like that.

"Of course… I could fly you there. But not while imprisoned like this."

By Akatosh, _no_. If she didn't trust him to give her accurate information, she certainly wasn't trusting him to fly her _anywhere_. "I can go to Paarthurnax. He can fly me."

If a dragon could smirk, Odahviing would probably be doing that right now. "I am afraid, Dovahkiin, it is entirely too late for that. You take your time to go to Paarthurnax… and Alduin… reemerges from Sovngarde, stronger than ever."

Great. This was just great. "How in the world am I supposed to trust you?"

"Arhraan. You wound me Dovahkiin. I may not tell the whole truth, but I am no liar. Zu'u ni tahrodiis. It was you that lured me here and took me prisoner... vobalaan grahmindol. I have done nothing to earn your distrust."

Merina sighed. "We seem to be at impasse, then."

"Indeed. Orid brit ro. I cannot leave until you defeat Alduin, which you cannot do without my help."

Merina was silent for a moment. Then, she said, begrudgingly, "Just give me a minute."

She gestured for Lydia and Serana to follow her and the three of them moved under the upper level of the balcony, into the shadows.

Merina managed to place a smile on her face, but it was a sad, weary one. Quietly, in what was almost a whisper, she said, "I'm going to Sovngarde. I have to fight Alduin."

They knew that. She knew that they knew that. It was just… a little hard to believe. It shouldn't have been, she couldn't be entirely shocked by all of this. This had been… an eventful year. Dragons had returned. _Dragons_. They had been gone— no not gone, _dead_— for thousands of years. And now they were _back_. One was going to end the _world _if she didn't do something.

She realized that it was a little too late in the game to be wondering how in the world this was all going on. She had questions before, but she had followed what everyone else had said. Jarl Balgruuf, Arngeir, Esbern. And her mother. They all given her orders. Fight this dragon. Prove that being Dragonborn actually means something by fighting another dragon. Infiltrate the Thalmor embassy (In all fairness, she had been happy to do that one). Find this old man. They had all seemed so… less having to do with the end of the world. How was she supposed to guess that _that _was what all those tasks had been leading up to. And now that she was at the eleventh hour and she _still_… well, it was still pretty impossible to believe. If she hadn't seen Alduin with her own eyes…

Serana, whose voice was just as quiet as Merina's own had been, interrupted her thoughts. "Merina, what do you mean _you _are going to fight him?"

Merina's smile faded and she sounded… not sad, but something close. "Of course you caught my wording, Serana." Then her voice became much stronger, less touchy-feely. "I'm going to find out where Alduin is. And I'm going to fight him. Only one of us is coming back."

"Merina. You are going to come back."

Merina was about to correct Lydia once again on her name and say that Lydia didn't have to use her title. But then she stopped and a smile once again appeared on her face, this one far less sad and tired. "Of course I'm coming back. But… but if I don't, someone needs to fight Alduin. Don't let that bastard destroy the world. Not without making him fight for it. And— and I can't think of anyone better for that job than the two of you."

Lydia's face usually didn't show much emotion, but she smiled slightly, which was like an outburst of feelings coming from her. Serana's previous anger was forgotten for the moment and she looked like she was about to say something. But Merina simply made a stopping gesture. She had one last thing to say and had another task for the two of them.

Carefully, Merina unclasped the Amulet of Kings from her neck, brought it out from under her armor, and held it out in front of herself, making sure that no one but the two women in front of her could see it. Even the smallest touch from her hand to the ruby would cause it to glow ever so faintly. "I doubt this will do much good against Alduin."

The astonished looks on Lydia and Serana's faces would have been funny, if not for the circumstances. Lydia's eyes were practically bulging out of her head and Serana looked like she had swallowed a bird. They seemed a little too shocked to say anything.

Merina managed one last rather sad, tired smile. "Take good care of it for me, you two."

She took Lydia's hand in her own and placed the amulet in her hand. Then Merina walked back out of the shadows and towards Odahviing. This was it. There really was no turning back now. She had to trust Odahviing as she had trusted Paarthurnax when she met him on the Throat of the World.

Paarthurnax… her trust and loyalty to him had ended her relationship with her mother. She still angry, _more_ than angry, but…

But now was not the time.

She walked back over to Odahviing. "Alright. I free you and you will stop working for Alduin. You will take me to Skuldafn."

"Onikaan koraav gein miraad. It is wise to recognize when you only have one choice. And you can trust me. Zu'u ni tahrodiis. Alduin has proven himself unworthy to rule. I go my own way now. Free me, and I will carry you to Skuldafn."

Merina nodded and walked away from Odahviing. She went up the stone stairs on the right that led to the upper level and then walked over to the guard who released the trap. He seemed very pleased with their accomplishment. "Something to tell the grandkids, eh?"

Merina smiled slightly. "Yes, it will be a fine tale to tell. But we need to let the dragon go."

The guard was understandably confused. "You sure? You want to let that dragon go after all the trouble to get him there."

Merina sighed, more out of weariness than anything else. "Yes, crazy as it sounds. It's the only way I'm going to get to Alduin."

"Your funeral. Someone else is going to have to help you put him back in there." He looked to the guard next to him and said, "Open the trap."

The other guard did as he said and pulled the lever. With a knot in her stomach, Merina her the chains clanking and saw the beam rise up off of Odahviing.

He better have been telling the truth.

Odahviing, for his part, said, "Faas nu, zini dein ruthi ahst vaal."

Then, he rose up into the air, his powerful wings creating a wind that sent dust flying at all of them. Odahviing didn't go far, though, as he went back on the ground soon enough. He managed to trample towards the edge of the balcony. Then he stopped and looked back at Merina. He called out. "Saraan uth— I await your command, as promised. Are you ready to see the world as only a dovah can?"

Merina didn't say anything and merely walked to where Odahviing was. His neck was leaning down, probably for Merina to climb onto.

And that was exactly what Merina did, grabbing onto one of his horns and carefully placing herself so that she wasn't impaled by one of his spikes.

Before taking off, Odahviing said one last thing to her. " Zok brit uth! I warn you, once you've flown the skies of Keizaal, your envy of the dov will only increase."

"Well, I don't have much of a choice in the matter. So, are you ready?"

Odahviing didn't answer and merely took off into the air. As he did, Merina took one look back, twisting back so that she could see everyone. She waved towards the worried looking Lydia and Serana. She kept looking until they were so small, she no longer see them.

The route to Skuldafn was beautiful and Merina was utterly entranced, even able to ignore the bone freezing cold. The clouds had cleared up and stars glimmered above Merina. The aurora borealis now shined in full glory, undimmed by the presence of clouds. Masser and Secunda's light was brighter than ever and seemed so close, it felt like Merina could almost touch them. Below her, she could see all of the great cities of Skyrim when turned in their directions. Whiterun with its beautiful wooden palace. Markarth, with high walls and copper roofs. Falkreath, small and barely noticeable. Riften, with its waterways. Solitude, holding the Blue Palace and a city like a beacon over the sea. Winterhold, with its college and snow. Windhelm and the glorious Palace of Kings, a remnant of times long gone. She let out a sigh of wonder. "This is— this is incredible! How do you ever leave?"

Odahviing seemed amused. "I did warn you."

Flying was less wonderful as they got closer to Skuldafn. It started snowing. Merina felt like she was turning into an icicle. Odahviing soon landed, however, and moved his neck down close to the ground for Merina to get off.

"This is as far as I can take you. Krif voth ahkrin. I will look for your return, or Alduin's."

Merina suddenly worried for the red dragon. If it was Alduin who reemerged and not Merina, she doubted Odahviing would live for very long.

'Well, that's just another reason to kill Alduin.'

She nodded and then turned her head to look at the large dragon. "Thank you."

He didn't say anything, merely gave a nod of his head and flew back into the sky, letting out a loud roar as he did. The dawn sky. As Merina looked, she could see that. From this direction Merina could see the sky was colored orange, red, yellow, with only a few clouds that sent snow her way.

Merina didn't have time to think of the beauty of dawn, however. She had to get to Sovngarde. She turned back around. Unfortunately, there was no sign that said, "Door to Sovngarde here". Merina would just have to find it herself. That was probably going to be easier said than done.

What there was on the freezing rock, was a ruin. It almost looked like the walls of castle, with arches that looked like they contained a drawbridge. There were ragged red flags flying up in the wind.

The wind. It was freezing up there, Merina was shivering and her teeth were chattering. The snow seemed to be turning her to ice, even through the coats and gloves she had on. All the more reason to find shelter and that door fast. But Merina wasn't going to be an idiot about it and just alert all of Alduin's cronies to her presence. She moved carefully and quietly, staying close to the ground and going around towers of stone when she could. It was a good thing for her steel grey armor. It allowed her blend in better than Legion armor would have.

It was long be she noticed a Draugr. It seemed to be like a guard and moment it stopped moving, Merina took out her bow and shot it before it could see her and warn others. That, however wasn't the end of danger. While the Draugr was immediately killed, Merina heard the roar of a dragon that _wasn't _Odahviing. She immediately pushed herself up against a column and looked through the sky to find where it was.

It close. Very close. If Merina wasn't careful, it would see her and she would rather not tangle with a dragon on her own. But it soon saw her and she was quickly running across a bridge for a better angle to Shout him down.

That, as it turned, was a bad idea. Now, not only was she dealing with dragon, she was fighting off five Draugr.

This was not her day.

With a quick Fus Ro Dah, she sent the Draugr flying, but it only killed two of them. But three quick strikes from her blade finished the job. Now she just had the dragon to deal with.

After many attempts, she managed to hit him with Dragonrend and he fell to the ground. But attacking him was… different than when she had fought all those other dragons, even Alduin. Everytime she moved in for a swing, she was always expecting Lydia or Serana or both to be attacking at the same time or creating a diversion to get the dragon's attention off of Merina.

But Lydia and Serana weren't here and, while she didn't regret her choice to leave them behind, she did regret not having help.

But, as Arngeir had once told her, regrets were pointless. Here she was.

Finally, she managed to get in a killing blow. She managed to thrust her sword multiple times into the dragon's skull, making sure it was dead.

She was reassured of the dragon's death when it scales began to burn away in a familiar orange and yellow light. Soon nothing was left but bone and the reinvigorating power Merina felt at gaining another dragon soul. Suddenly, she was less cold, less weary. It made it far easier to carry on.

And carry on she did, going back to sneaking, keeping close to the walls and rocks. However, it wasn't long until she found another dragon. This time, there was no hiding, the dragon immediately spotted her.

This dragon was easier to kill, even if she still off her game from fighting alone. There were no Draugr to distract and get in her way, so Merina was able to quickly get and keep the dragon on the ground. Her blood pounding in her ears, it wasn't long until she killed the dragon.

She ran up ran up the stairs close to where the dragon's body lay. The next few minutes were a blur of steel and blood. When Merina finished slaughtering the Draugr, she suddenly realized how quiet it was. The only sounds were her own movement and the howling of the wind that echoed against the rocks and the grey stone walls. Suddenly, Merina very small and oh so very alone.

She looked up and saw from the top of the ruins of Skuldafn a bright light, shooting up into the sky like flames. If she was to give a guess, she would call that the door to Sovngarde. But, seeing as there was no way to climb up there, at least from where she was, she instead used all of her strength to open the large, metal doors that were in front of her and entered the ruins of Skuldafn.

The chamber she entered was large and almost ornate in a way, at least for a thousands of years old dragon… temple, she supposed? In the middle of the room was a large stone cube that almost reached the ceiling. It had statues coming out of it that almost seemed to look like some kind animal head. On either side of the cube were more ragged, red flags. Medina slunk past the cube and into a hallway that was filled with fog.

The passage was filled with three slow moving Draugr that Merina quickly took out with her bow. She took the gold that was left in a few urns and then continued slipping through the halls. After only about a minute of sneaking around, Merina reached another large room. There were four Draugr that immediately went to attack her as she walked through the room, but once again Merina's trusty bow finished it off before it could cause her any harm.

Then the room was silent and empty. The only way out, other than the way she came, was through two locked gates. Merina walked around the room, trying to find a lever them. There was a lever, in front of three turnable podiums. Merina remembered podiums like this from Bleak Falls Barrow. How long ago that seemed.

Usually in the Nord tombs, there were clues or at least some kind of sign as to how a podium should be turned. Perhaps the ones in this room had that too. Merina looked around and saw four of the, all of them opposite from a podium on the left or the right. At first, it didn't make sense to her, wouldn't the left or right have to be what was in front to them? Then Merina thought of an alternative. Perhaps the pictures were of what they should be facing. So Merina turned them that way, now both on the left and right showed a picture of a hawk in the front. That still left the problem of the middle podium, however. Merina just decided to follow the previous pattern and turned the middle podium to show hawk as well.

It worked, at least partially. The gate on the right opened. However, the hallway had collapsed and there was only a chest left. Merina gladly took the money from the chest, but that didn't solve her problem as to how to get through this room. So Merina just decided to force and she would just turn the middle podium until it gave her the correct answer. She only had two other options, it wouldn't take her that long to a podium, at most, twice. So she walked back to the middle podium and turned it so that it showed a snake. Then she pulled the lever. The gate opened.

'Well, that wasn't too difficult.'

Feeling very pleased with herself, Merina sauntered towards the gate, going up a small set of stairs and then passing through the gate itself. Then it was back to sneaking. Merina didn't know what kind of horrors Alduin had locked up here and she wanted to keep the element of surprise.

She walked through a hallway and then up a couple stairs before reaching another room. When she entered, she was standing on wooden planks. Below, in front of her, there was a Draugr. She immediately sent it back to its grave with only one arrow, but when she walked down into the lower part of the room, coffins quickly burst open. She speedily dealt with the three Draugr. It was quiet in Skuldafn. Too quiet. Nord tombs had been quiet, but for most of her time in Skyrim, she'd had Lydia and Serana. Skuldafn was utterly silent, except for her own movement.

One of the coffins didn't have a back and when she walked through, it led to a room covered in cobwebs. There was probably a giant spider somewhere near by. At least she knew it was coming.

She only had to walk down a small corridor to find smaller one, just a ramp above her. It didn't see her and she was able to take it down with an arrow before it could move. That, however, sent two more spiders in Merina's direction, one much bigger. Merina was able take the big one down too before it saw her and the smaller one before it hurt her. Then she continued on.

In the passageway she walked through, she was surprised by a spider, but a cut of her blade took it down before it could do any real damage. And it was once again quiet. This was when Lydia or Serana would have made fun of her for being surprised by a spider. But Lydia was not here, Serana was not here, and Skuldafn was utterly silent.

She walked up a small flight of stairs and found a door at the end of the room. To door, though, she needed to get through two more spiders first. That was easy. Then, she opened the door. This was the point where she would say something like, "What horror shall we find next?", but there was no one to say it to. So Merina stayed silent.

The door led to another large chamber. This one had two Draugr, but once again, Merina with her bow took them down before she had a chance of getting hurt.

There were more podiums and lever, these ones on a cube, in this room too. Merina guessed that they were to pull a bridge in front of her down, but there was no way for Merina to know which way to turn them. Before she tried anything else, Merina pulled the lever. That was a bad idea, as Merina barely avoided being shot down by poisoned arrows. But beyond that, Merina had no ideas on as to how she could bring the bridge down. But then she saw a small space between the bridge and the wall. Perhaps she could use Whirlwind Sprint…

Well, she didn't have any better ideas. She just prayed to Akatosh and all the other Divines that she didn't fall. At the height she was at, she break a leg. At least.

Surprisingly, though, it worked, barely. She managed to not fall and was on the side she wanted to be. With a small smile of pride on her face, she walked through the doors in the middle of the wall.

It lead to a corridor which in turn led to another large room. Apparently, Alduin wasn't very creative with his architectural projects. There were a lot of Draugr in this room and it took Merina a bit longer to kill them all. She barely avoided an arrow to the face. Once again, she wished she had Lydia and Serana with her. She knew that it was important to make sure that people who knew how to stop Alduin, or could at least give him problems, survived, but she still wished she had those two with her.

She walked through the room up a large staircase and then through a passageway on the right, which led to a stone bridge. That bridge led to another passageway, which Merina walked through. That passage led to a circular room. When Merina entered the room, she barely avoided being killed by a round of arrows to chest and face. But there was a spiral staircase that led up and, seeing as that was the only was that she knew of to go through, Merina went up them.

There were a lot of Draugr in the room she walked up to. She managed to kill two of them by setting them on fire. Those two Draugr were standing in oil and there was a lantern above them

Merina had used that to her advantage. The other two Draugr received the pointy end of Dragonbane.

When the fire stopped, Merina went through that small section of the room. The only way out of that room, besides the stairs, was a closed gate. Hopefully, a lever would be in this part of the room.

Luckily for Merina, there was and no arrows were sent her way when she pulled it. She went through the gate, once again back to sneaking. Unsurprisingly, the gate led to another passageway. The passageway was longer than the others and, while it did feed into another large room, this room just felt like a larger passageway. As she was walking, she noticed that she was stepping in some oil. Just as she looked up from the floor, she saw a lantern fall from the ceiling. She barely jumped out of the way before all of the oil was set alight.

Merina's heart was beating loud and fast. Her breathing had sped up as well. 'That was close.'

The passageway kept going on, but then, Merina saw a door.

And another Draugr.

She shot the Draugr with an arrow, but that did nothing. The Draugr immediately used Unrelenting Force against her. But Merina was barely moved and while the Draugr was pushed back by the force of its own Shout, Merina was running towards it. Before it could do anything, Merina had lopped off its head.

And out of the Draugr's hand, a claw fell. Merina picked it up and looked it over. When she did, she saw that it wasn't a real claw, this wasn't from some animal. It was made of what looked like diamond. Alduin sure was fancy. It looked rather familiar…

On second look, she suddenly realized where she had seen it before. Well, not this particular one, but one like it. She had used a golden claw at Bleak Falls Barrow. Merina quickly looked up at the door, and, sure enough, it had the three rings and the place where the claw would fit. Merina looked back at the claw. Wolf, butterfly, dragon. Merina quickly turned the largest and smallest ring, the middle was the way it was supposed to be, and placed the claw in its spot. Just as Merina thought it would, the door was pulled back into the ground.

This room was larger than any other in Skukdafn and in the middle was the largest Word Wall Merina had ever seen. She was immediately called by a Word and, without Merina even thinking, she walked up to the wall. Her hand moved towards a word that seemed to being glowing a vibrant blue. And somehow, she understood it. It meant storm. Merina wasn't sure how it was supposed be used, but she knew what it meant.

She was alone in the room, except for a long dead skeleton. She walked through until she found a door. The moment she walked through, she was hit by a sharp wind and lots of snow. Draugr ran at her, but she managed to kill them quickly enough. She close to the light that she had seen earlier, she could see it now, even through the heavy snow.

She ran through the snow and wind, not even trying to sneak anymore, until she reached a large set of stairs. She could see that white and blue light steaming up to the sky. She ran up the stairs even faster, seemingly faster than she had ever run before. But, before she could reach it, she saw someone in her way.

It was a robed figure. It looked human and yet, a part of Merina was telling her that this… thing was anything but human. It was like the feeling that Merina had gotten when she had first met Serana. She didn't feel like she was going to throw up from its presence. But, somehow, with Serana, she had known not to be afraid. With this… thing, she felt anything _but _trust. She felt danger and fear. That she should either run away from this thing really, _really _fast. Or that she should kill it where it stood.

Merina didn't have a choice. She _had _to get to Sovngarde and this creature— whatever it was— was working for Alduin. She had to kill it or it would kill her.

Before it could even turn around, Merina shot five arrows into it. But those didn't seem to even _annoy_ the creature.

What in Oblivion was this thing?!

It turned around and that was when Merina saw its face. Well, it was shaped like a face. It had eye, nose, and mouth markings. But _that_ was _not _a face. It was a mask, made of rich, dark brown wood. The skin of the creature was horrifying. It was rotting, Merina could even smell it in the air. In some places, Merina could see bone or the remains of flesh with maggots and other worms and parasites in it. Where there was skin, it was grey and stretched thin over bone. The _sight _of that— that _monstrosity _that tried to call itself a living creature. It made Merina want to retch.

Merina quickly had to jump out of the way as the thing shot a hailstorm of lightning at her. It singed the bit of Merina's hair that had flown in front of her. She kept dodging blow after blow, not sure what to do. This was no dragon, it could not be brought down by Dragonrend and being Dragonborn gave her no insight on how to defeat it.

Seeing no other option, she dropped her sword and ran towards the creature, dodging storm after storm of lightning. Once she was within arms reach, she grabbed the staff and with all her might pulled it out of the creature's hands, taking in all the lighting. If she couldn't kill it, she could neutralize it. In the same breath as she had taken the staff, she slammed it into the creature's skull, knocking it to the ground.

That was when she got an idea. Clearly, the staff and the mask were of some importance. The rest of this… creature was like a normal Draugr, only with a robe and being a lot more disgusting. She had the staff, but it had done nothing to stop the creature. But the mask… if she took the mask…

In less than a second, before the creature could get back up, she dropped the staff and pulled the mask off, which took all of her might, and made sure not to look at the face. If the body was hideous, the part covered by the mask, the part even the _creature_ hadn't wanted the world to see, had to be even worse.

The creature let a horrible, high pitched scream that made Merina the mask to cover her ears. But it was too late for the abomination, as its skin turned to ash before Merina's eyes, leaving only its robe, the staff, and the mask.

Merina was left on the stone, snow covered floor, gasping for breath, her entire body heaving and shivering. She stared at the mask and put it in the bag (at the very least, it was a cool souvenir, at worst, which was what she was guessing at the moment, it was something she was going to have the College look over). Then she looked over to where the creature had stood before their confrontation. It was on a platform, higher than everything else. Merina grabbed the staff and her sword, placing her blade back into its sheath. Then she walked up onto the platform. Below where that creature had been standing, there was a circle that was slightly above the rest of the platform's floor. In front of the platform itself, there was a large symbol of some kind, that had curving line which glowed bright blue. It almost looked like the Daedric lettering Merina had seen in books or when she and Brother Darion had gone through very, very old temples, like some of the Ayleid ruins in Cyrodiil.

Merina looked back at the circle in front of her. There was a square shaped hole in the middle. It looked the size and shape of the staff, at least in width. Was she supposed to put the staff there?

Not knowing what else to do, Merina placed the staff into the hole. It barely went in, but it was enough. The glowing light stopped, which at first worried Merina, but then the pseudo Daederic symbol practically melted into the stone floor. It began to swirl in a blue— Merina didn't know how to describe it, it was almost like a liquid. Somehow, she knew was this was the way to Sovngarde. Maybe it was the blue liquid thing.

She didn't see any other things that practically had a sign saying "Portal to Sovngarde", so she jumped off the platform and into the portal.

Author's Note: As always, I own nothing and anything you recognize isn't mine. This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, the next one is probably going to be even shorter, because there's just less to write about right now. They get longer again when the next plot starts up. Thanks to everyone who read!


	16. Sovngarde

_"While the part of the memoir that mentioned Sovngarde also survived with the part on Skuldafn, the description of what Sovngarde looks likes is not very illuminating. Empress Kintyra said that any description she could give to Sovngarde would be merely a fraction of what the place truly was. But this may not be the truth. The memoirs were written nearly fifty years after her battle with Alduin and she may have wished to not admit that she had simply forgotten what it had looked like. This is yet another problem for historians wishing to study the third Kintyra. Her life, in broad terms, was very interesting. But when you actually go to study it, most of the parts considered "interesting" don't have much written on them, even less by primary sources, and even those primary sources aren't very reliable. Merina, for most of her story until she became empress, was a side character, her exploits sometimes mentioned, but more often than not, it was the generals and jarls who were forefront in the stories."_

— _Life of the Empress Kintyra III, volume one, by Chaes Belarnion_

Merina didn't know how long she fell or if she even fell at all. She felt like she was falling, for hours or even days, but nothing around her seemed to change. It just looked like she wasn't moving at all. And even though it felt like an eternity, it also felt like no time had passed at all.

And suddenly, it was all over and she was suddenly somewhere completely unrecognizable. She was above a set of stairs. The path was lined by identical statues of a hooded man and beyond that, Merina saw the outline of a large building. The ground was covered in a thick, heavy mist.

And the sky… it seemed to be moving, the stars going down like a setting sun. But the colors in that sky… it dwarfed the beauty of any Aurora Borealis. The colored clouds were in a spiral shape. In the middle was a hole that seemed to contain a sun. The clouds all spiraled away from the bright, white light. There was the sound of thunder, but Merina saw no lightning.

Wind sent snow flying in front of her, but, for once, Merina was not cold. The wind seemed to be guiding her, as if it was saying, "This is the way". Merina decided to listen, as she couldn't go back, the portal was gone and behind her was mountain. So she began to slowly walk down the stairs. It was blue, but everything here seemed to have an overtone of blue. Everything but the fire of the braziers that showed the way. Next to the braziers was, oddly enough, bone. Large bones, that seemed be from the ribs of a large whale, were always right next to a brazier.

When Merina reached the bottom of stairs, there was a path in front of her. For a few feet in front of her, everything looked normal. But after that, Merina could see nothing but mist. She hadn't realized the mist was so thick from her vantage point at the top of the path, but now that she was lower, it was practically blinding.

She heard a dragon cry in the sky and her hand immediately went for the hilt of her blade. But she did not see Alduin and after that, the world was once again silent.

Merina didn't want to go down that path. The mist was eerily familiar and for a moment, she couldn't realize why. The she saw that it was like the mist from her nightmares. That made her want to go down the path even less. For a moment, she was entirely still, not sure whether to stay where she was or brave the mist.

'I didn't come all this way to be stopped by some mist because it reminds me of some silly nightmares.'

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to keep going. But when she walked into the mist, it moved back, pushing itself away, as if her presence was like a poison, leaving a circle of clear sight around her. Merina frowned. That was odd.

She didn't have time to wonder about the mist or why it moved away from her, so she kept moving. She wasn't sure where exactly she was going, but she remembered her father's stories of Sovngarde. The souls they went… they went to a hall of some kind. Merina supposed that was what she should try to find. Perhaps it was the building she had seen from the top of the path. And if it was, or if she could find it, maybe she could get some help from the people there.

She kept meandering down the path, trying to see if there was any building in the distance, but she couldn't see anything but mist and the path in front of her.

Wait. Something was in the mist, moving towards her. Merina stopped dead in her tracks. Perhaps this was a person. Perhaps they could give her directions.

It was a person, a tall, burly man, that was coming out of the mist and towards her. At first, she could only see an outline of him, but as he got closer, she could make out his features. Like the mist, she could recognize the man from somewhere. It was only when he was within arms length that she finally remembered why she recognized the man.

It was Ralof. He was wearing his Stormcloak uniform, looking almost exactly the way he had when she met him in all ways but one. He was entirely translucent and when she reached out to touch him, to shake his hand, to prove to herself that he (and this place) was real, his hand simply seemed to dissipate, until she moved her hand away.

Merina's face fell. Ralof. She hadn't seen him since Helgen. Admittedly, that had been the first and only time she'd ever seen him, but she had wondered what had happened to him. Now it seemed she knew. He was dead. Dead. It had only been a couple months, not nearly enough time…

Then again, there was a war going on.

How long had he been dead? Had he died while trying to escape Helgen? Had a dragon killed him? Had he died in some skirmish between the Stormcloaks and Imperials? Had he been executed? Or had it just been illness, some sort of disease that festered in Skyrim's cold weather, that had finished him off?

Before she could ask him, Ralof issued a warning. "Turn back, traveler! Terror awaits within this mist. Many have braved the shadowed vale, but vain is all courage against the peril that guards the way."

Merina frowned. "Peril? Do mean the mist? Why would that be—"

Ralof shook his head. "I do not know— but none have passed through. Alduin, his hunger insatiable, hunts the lost souls snared within in this shadowed valley. Can you lead the way to where Shor's hall waits, beckoning to welcome, long sought?"

Shor's hall. The Hall of Valor. Yes, had been the name from her father's stories. And her dreams… they had showed a hall. Perhaps…

"I saw it fair when I first trod this long sought path. The pain and fear vanished, dreamlike, and a vision beckoned. Shor's hall, shimmering across the clouded vale. But hope was quenched by the shrouding mist— my mind is darkened. I've lost the way and wander blindly."

"I— I think I saw a hall, in my dreams. Perhaps it is…"

Ralof seemed hopeful at that, at least for a moment. But then, hope was replaced by fear. "Hurry! Before Alduin your life devours, bring word to Shor's hall of our hard fate!"

At that, Merina nodded. "Follow me. I'll lead you through the mist."

"I'll try to hold to your hopeful purpose. Quickly, before this encompassing fog once more snares me in the World Eater's net!"

They started running, with Merina Shouting the mist away. At one point, they saw Alduin, but he quickly flew away when he saw them. But suddenly, when the mist returned, Ralof stopped. He seemed unable to recognize her and he would not move. She called out to him several times, but he did not even seem to notice her. Merina did not want to leave him, but she had to keep going. Once Alduin was dead, she could get rid of this mist and then she would save Ralof.

At one point there was a fork in the path, she could go left, right, or up. At first, she decided on up, but that turned out to lead to only a broken, crumbling Word Wall and she had to go back the way she came. After that, she went left. As she was walking, she was repeatedly told to turn back, to run before Alduin found her, but Merina kept running. That was when she saw a man, finely dressed, standing in the middle of the road.

His clothes were made of silk and he wore a jarl's circlet, just like the one Jarl Elisif wore. He had auburn hair like her. Merina's supposed that this was High King Torygg, but he didn't seem to notice her either. She just had to keep going.

She ran along the path and then over a stream. Alduin kept roaring and flying overhead, but Merina just kept running. She would sometimes hear the screaming of souls, but there was nothing Merina could do to save them from Alduin. She had tried.

Eventually, the path ended and she saw a set of stairs and the ribs like the ones that she had seen when she first walked along the path, but these ones were somehow even larger, they made Alduin look puny. They looked like the skeleton of some giant creature…

Whatever it was, Merina didn't want to tangle with something that large.

She quickly clambered up the path. Just like in her dream, there was a bridge made of bone and after it, the Hall of Valor. It took Merina's breath away. It was even more… Merina didn't know how to describe it.

But unlike in her dream, there was a man there. He was tall, the tallest person Merina had ever seen. He was shirtless, but he had gauntlets, armor for the lower body, and a large great sword hanging from his back. His hair was red and shoulder length. When Merina walked a little closer to the bridge, the man approached her. "What brings you here, wayfarer grim, to wander here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor's gift to honored dead?"

It took Merina a second to answer, she was out of breath from running and still in amazement over Shor's hall. Just being near it made Merina feel less weary, her muscles lost the aching feeling that had been there since… at least since she, Lydia, and Serana found Esbern. All her troubles, her fight with her mother, the fight that was brewing between her and Serana, and the… the fear of Alduin melted away. She felt as if she had been away from home for a long, long time and was now back. But soon enough, she answered the muscular mystery man. "I need to get into the Hall of Valor. I'm here to kill Alduin."

"A fateful errand. No few have chaffed to face the Worm since he first set his soul-snare at Sovngarde's threshold. But Shor restrained our wrathful onslaught— perhaps, deep counseled, your doom he foresaw."

Wait a minute. She had come here to tell everyone in Shor's Hall about what Alduin was doing. But if they already knew and Shor had said they couldn't do anything about it— was she supposed to face Alduin _alone_?!

Merina suddenly felt a bit queasy. She decided to change the subject away from Alduin, if only to keep herself from heaving up her small dinner. "And… who are you?"

Her father may have told her the Nord legends, but it had been about eleven years since she'd heard any of them and she only remembered the basics. The particulars, like who this guy was, were lost to her.

"I am Tsun, shield-thane to Shor. The Whalebone bridge he bade me guard and winnow all souls whose heroic end sent them here, to Shor's lofty hall, where welcome, well earned, awaits those I judge fit to join that fellowship of honor."

Merina supposed that a shield-thane was a cross between thane and housecarl. And she turned out to be right about what the bridge was made of. But how did he judge people worthy? Unless…

No.

"No shade are you, as usually here passes, but living, you dare enter the land of the dead. By what right do you request entry?"

Well, Merina didn't quite know the answer to that question. She had said that she was chasing Alduin, but that wasn't a right to go in, that was her motive. She didn't think Tsun would let her in because of her lineage, so using "I'm a Septim" as an answer was out. So, she supposed, that left saying she was Dragonborn and she'd been slaying dragons left and right, until she'd learned of Alduin and the world ending threat he posed. "I am Dragonborn."

She could go into more detail if she had to. Right now, she needed to get into the Hall of Valor as quickly as she could.

"Ah! It's been too long since last I faced a doom driven hero of the dragon blood."

Dragon blood. That was the older and more popular (at least in Cyrodiil, Dragonborn seemed to be more popular in Skyrim) to describe the Septim emperors and empresses. It was the one used in all of Merina's history books that she'd practically memorized when she was a child.

And wait— what did he mean by _faced_?! Shouldn't he have used something like the word _met_?!

Oh, no. No. He couldn't— that wasn't _fair_ (Merina realized how child like she sounded, but she didn't really care at the moment)!

Tsun confirmed her fears. "Living or dead, by Shor's decree, none may pass this perilous bridge 'til I judge them worthy by the warrior's test."

Oh, good gods, he really was going to do what she thought he would.

Just after Merina realized that, Tsun took out his sword and charged at her, with her barely avoiding getting carved up like roast chicken by his giant sword. She quickly jumped out of the way and pulled out Dragonbane. If he was going to attack her, which she didn't like the idea of, seeing as he was a _god_ (or something very close to that, she'd have to ask Lydia for details), she could at least defend herself. Maybe she'd even get to attack back.

She ended up not attacking at all. She never got the chance to. She was either blocking a swing of Tsun's sword with her own blade and then jumping off to the side to make him stumble or just jumping away from the swing. She didn't have any time to try to form an attack if she wanted to keep all her limbs and vital organs intact. So she just kept to her strategy of blocking and jumping.

But that wasn't a strategy that was going to work forever. At some point, Merina was going to get tired and then she was going to find herself impaled. And Tsun didn't seem to find her blocking and jumping away very "worthy". She was going to have to go on the attack. But just swinging at Tsun was suicide. She had a hard enough time just blocking him and she doubted that Tsun wasn't capable of blocking. If she could block just enough to hold off his strikes, she was pretty certain that a block from a thousands of years old god that defended the place where the brave and mighty went would obliterate her with his defense. Unlike just about every other enemy Merina had faced, just going on the offensive wasn't going to do anything. It was most likely going to get her killed.

But at the moment, she just didn't know what else to try. So she kept blocking him and jumping out of the way when Tsun would do his big strikes.

Wait. Those large strikes.

That was Merina got an idea. Tsun would do these large, powerful strikes every so often, ones so strong, Merina knew she couldn't block them, so she'd jump out of the way. But to do those strikes, Tsun had to lift his sword with two hands and put so much force into the blow that when Merina dodged away at the last second, he would be sent flying forward. And Merina knew that, about ten feet behind her, was a cliff.

Merina began moving back in a zigzag pattern, pulling Tsun after her. When he sent a heavy strike against her, she just kept moving backwards, until she felt that she was close enough. She couldn't be sure, but she didn't want to risk falling off the cliff herself. And just at that moment, Merina saw that Tsun, sword clasped by both hands, was raising his blade above his head.

Perfect.

The blade began to fall, faster than Merina could ever swing a sword, directly towards Merina's skull. At the moment Merina felt like this was the only time she could get away without Tsun able to change direction, she darted to the left, the blade cutting off a bit of her hair. Tsun stumbled forward just a little too much and tumbled off the cliff.

For a second, Merina just stood there, catching her breath and reveling in her victory. She'd done it! She'd defeated—

And that was when it hit her. Oh gods, had she just killed Tsun?! She had been so caught up in her survival mindset that she had forgotten— Tsun had never said anything about wanting to _kill _he just had just said that he "decided who was worthy" and—

_Had she just killed him?!_

"You fought well. I find you worthy."

Merina jumped up, almost a foot in the air, and spun around to look at the man that had spoken. It was Tsun. But— how? She'd just seen him fall off a cliff that was _at least _five hundred feet tall. Even if he had survived the drop, how did he get back up?! Well, he was a god, or something close, so she supposed he could do things like that.

She decided not to try and wrack her brain for an explanation. She reminded herself that she had far more important things to worry about. Like defeating Alduin. Which was something that she really might have to do alone.

And the thought of that made Merina feel queasy and her legs felt weak. Two things she would _never _admit. She might die today, but at least she would die with her pride intact.

Tsun led Merina back up to the bone bridge. And at that moment, Merina suddenly thought that crossing the Whalebone bridge, which meant trying not to fall through holes upon holes between each of the rib bones, maybe wasn't the best idea. And who knew, maybe the bone wasn't as strong as it used to be. This definitely wasn't one of the best ideas Merina had ever had.

She turned back to look at Tsun. "I'm— I'm supposed to cross that?"

She hoped that he would say something like, "Oh, no. The bridge is just for show, here I'll take you to the Hall of Valor's back door."

But he didn't. Infuriatingly enough, he smiled and then nodded. Then his expression became much more serious. "It is long since one of the living had entered here. May Shor's favor follow you and your errand."

Merina nodded weakly and turned back to look at the Whalebone bridge. She supposed crossing the bridge was just another test, after all, Tsun had called it the "perilous bridge". This was the Hall of _Valor_ she was trying to get into and the only very brave (or the very stupid, and at that point, Merina wasn't sure which she was) would attempt to cross it.

So Merina sucked up her courage, took a deep breath, cracked her knuckles, and began to slowly walk on the bone bridge, holding on to the large parts to keep her balance. She almost fell through the cracks a few times, but managed to grab back onto the bridge in time. Eventually, she made to the other side. Then it was just dash up one of the staircases and she was at the doors.

This was it. If she couldn't get help from the Hall of Valor, well… she was pretty sure that the world was doomed. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and pushed open one of the large doors and walked in, hoping she didn't look as small as she felt.

The Hall of Valor was even more… she didn't really know how to describe it right, she supposed _incredible _was the word, from the inside. All of a sudden, Merina felt comforted. She felt well rested and well fed. She felt like she could take on a thousand enemies and not break a sweat. Even Alduin didn't seem so frightening anymore. A sense of calm and peace came over Merina. She had a feeling it wouldn't last long.

The hall itself was made of wood and was very brightly lit by many lamps. On all of the walls, there were bright, patterned tapestries and There was a large table in the center of the room and people in armor littered the room, talking and laughing. Behind the table was a fire with some sort of meat cooking on it. But Merina didn't have long to look around, as a man soon approached her.

He was tall, incredibly tall, one of the tallest people she'd ever seen, and muscular, with blond hair going just below his shoulders, a massive beard, and bright eyes. She felt like she should know who he was, after all, he was a Nord hero who went to Sovngarde, Merina would think she should know who this man was. She'd never got the chance to ask or figure it out on her own. Before Merina could say anything, the man spoke in the same stilted, old fashioned way Tsun had. "Welcome, Dragonborn! Our door has stood empty since Alduin first set his soul-snare here. By Shor's command we sheathed our blades and ventured not the vale's dark mist. But three await your word to loose their fury upon the perilous foe. Gormlaith the Fearless, glad-hearted in battle; Hakon the Valiant, heavy-handed warrior; Felldir the Old, far-seeing and grim."

Merina was going to have to start going to temple more often (actually, she was going to have to restart the practice of going to temple at all) because this was a mercy from the Divines. She wouldn't have to fight Alduin alone.

The blond man lead Merina to Gormlaith, Hakon, and Felldir, who were standing about twenty feet away to Merina's right, near the table. It was like going back in time. They all looked the exact same as when they defeated Alduin, which made sense with Gormlaith and Felldir, but not so much with Hakon. But perhaps Hakon hadn't lived long after stopping Alduin. Perhaps he died of his injuries. Or perhaps Merina was simply seeing the trio the way she thought they should look.

Gormlaith pulled her blade out of its sheath. "At long last! Alduin's doom is now ours to seal— just speak the word and with high hearts we'll hasten forth to smite the worm wherever he lurks."

Felldir was a bit more cautious. "Hold, comrades— let us counsel take before battle is blindly joined. Alduin's mist is more than a snare— its shadowy gloom is his shield and cloak. But with four voices joined, our valor combined, we can blast the mist and bring him to battle."

Yes! They were going to help her!

Hakon agreed with Felldir. "Felldir speaks wisdom— the World Eater, coward, fears you, Dragonborn. We must drive away his mist, Shouting together, and unsheathe our blades in desperate battle with our black-winged foe."

"Alduin escaped us long ago. Today we take our well-tempered revenge," said Felldir. At that, he and Hakon took out their swords and the three warriors of legend ran towards the doors. Not wanting to be left behind, Merina quickly pulled out her blade too and sped after them.

They ran out of the hall and down the stairs, but carefully crossed the Whalebone bridge. Well, Merina did, the other three seemed to have no fear. Perhaps the people who made it into the Hall of Valor would just teleport back up if they fell, just like Tsun did.

'Well, they may be dead, but I'm not and I'd like to keep it that way.'

The three were waiting for her at the other side, with Tsun standing next to them. Merina hoped that he was going to help them, they could use all the help they could get, but had the unfortunate feeling that he wasn't going to lift a finger.

That unfortunate feeling was right. Instead of saying that he was going to help them, Tsun said, "The eyes of Shor are upon you this day. Defeat Alduin, and destroy his soul-snare."

Well, way to add even more pressure. And the words "defeat Alduin" weren't very comfortable either. Did that she couldn't kill him, even Sovngarde?

Merina tried to push that thought away. She could and _would _kill Alduin here, today.

The group of dragon slayers walked a little closer to the mist, until they could almost touch it. The mist seemed… different. It seemed more tightly packed, Merina could no longer see anything through it, and no longer fled away from her. Merina frowned. This could only mean that Alduin was regaining his strength and Merina wasn't sure that her Shout would be able to clear this away. The anxious, queasy feeling in her stomach reared its head again.

She didn't have time to deal with that feeling, because Felldir said something that just made it even worse. "We cannot fight the foe in this mist."

But Gormlaith had a solution. "Clear Skies— combine our Shouts!"

Merina supposed it made sense and it was worth a try. Somehow, the four of them managed to sync a Shout and together, they yelled, "Lok Vah Koor!"

The mist instantly evaporated— it was there one moment and gone the next.

But even though he'd had the chance to regain his strength, Alduin did not possess the confidence he had at the Throat of the World. Instead, he combated their Shout with one of his own, his voice echoing across Sovngarde, "Ven Mul Riik!"

And then the mist instantly returned— gone one moment and back the next.

'Well this is just great. What are we going to do now?'

"Again!" yelled Gormlaith.

This time, Merina was less inclined to follow her orders. They had tried that and, while it worked, Alduin could just bring his mists back.

But Felldir seemed to agree with Gormlaith. "We can shatter his power if we Shout together!"

Well, Merina didn't have any better ideas, so she decided to go along with it. Once again, the four of them Shouted. Once again, the mist dissipated.

And, of course, Alduin simply used his Shout to bring it back.

Hakon seemed to be thinking the same thing Merina was. "Does his strength have no end? Is our struggle in vain?"

But Gormlaith shook her head. "Stand fast! His strength is failing! Once more, and his might will be broken!"

And, with a little bit of hope growing, Merina realized that Gormlaith might have been right. When she took another look, she saw that the mist was thinner and overstretched. She tried to keep a smile off her face, not wanting to get her hopes up.

Felldir made sure to capitalize on this weakness. "His power crumbles— do not pause for breath!"

And once more, they Shouted and this time, Alduin could not stop his mist from fleeing. Now he would have to actually face them in open combat.

That was when Merina heard the beating of wings, like thunder echoing across the sky, and she allowed a small smile to cross her face.

'Time to die, Alduin.'

The heroes of old seemed to have similar thoughts, as the four of them all unsheathed their weapons at the same time. And then they waited, until the sound of thunder was so close, Merina had to stop herself from fleeing from the lightning her body was sure would strike her at any moment.

It was not long after that, that Merina saw Alduin fly over the mountains.

"The endless wait gives way to battle! Alduin's doom, his death or ours!"

Gormlaith's words reverberated in Merina's mind like the cracks of thunder coming from Alduin's flight. His death or theirs.

Gormlaith's words reflected Merina's thoughts. "No escape this time, foul worm!"

Before Alduin was even close to them, fireballs were raining down from the sky, but Merina quickly learned the benefit of fighting alongside other people who could the Voice. She didn't have to do all the Shouting. Felldir quickly took care of the fireballs with one quick Clear Skies, while Merina was able put all her hate and concentration into Dragonrend.

Alduin came crashing to the ground, stunned by the landing. He wasn't helpless for long, before any of them could get close enough to swing their weapon at him, they were having to dodge the fire coming out his mouth.

Merina had jumped right out of the way, in the direction of Alduin's left wing, which gave her an idea. She ran in towards the wing unnoticed while Alduin was focused on the three heroes he had faced so long ago. As soon as she was right under the wing sliced through half of it, cutting through the thin membrane until she reached the bone that created next section. And she cut through the thin skin in that section too.

That got Alduin's attention and with a bellow, he somehow began to rise into the air. Merina wasn't about to let him go that easily. She thrust her sword into his side and held on to it as Alduin began to rise. When the damaged wing went down, she grabbed onto the bone, pulled her sword out of Alduin and grabbed onto the wing bone with one hand and held onto her sword with the other.

If maiming one wing didn't stop Alduin from flying, Merina would just have to finish the job.

She let go of the wing bone with one hand and dropped the blade into it. She pulled herself up until she was able to get her legs over the bone and through the cut she had made, widening it as she did, stabbed Alduin in the side, used the blade to pull herself up into an almost standing position, and grabbed onto one of the long, sharp scales on Alduin's spine. She pulled herself up and over his back, barely managing to hold on with Alduin trying to shake her off, throwing her up and down, until she was just above Alduin's right wing. She then reversed her process of climbing onto the dragon and soon herself hanging onto his right wing bone. She managed to pull herself over into a straddle position using her left hand to hold herself in place as the wing went up and down, with her blade grasped in her right hand. She took a breath and then tore through the fine skin, destroying whatever was left of Alduin's ability to fly.

As Alduin began to plummet, Merina moved back onto his spine, remembering her first fight with a dragon. She climbed up its spine and pushed her sword through its skull. True, that well tested method hadn't worked in her first fight with Alduin, but it was going this time. And if it didn't, she was going to do it as many times as it took for death to set in, because she was _not _going to let Alduin live up to the title of World Eater.

She pulled herself up Alduin's spine, going spike by spike, not caring about the fall, until she reached his skull. She pulled up her blade. But before she could strike, she saw his eyes. Those blood red eyes, ruby red eyes like the jewels in the Emperor's crown, that once had her frozen in fear, held the same terror they used to inspire in her.

"Know that it was Merina who sent you to death this day."

And her blade found its place in his skull. Dragonbane's magic quickly began to do Merina's work for her, sending ripples of electricity through Alduin. Alduin was screaming in the Dragon language. "Zu'u unslaad! Zu'u nis ablaan!"

Merina didn't have them to react after he screamed those words. His skin exploded off, sending Merina flying up. The black charred, skeleton began burn into a golden light and his soul was sucked into the sky. Then there was a second explosion that sent Merina flying to the ground at breakneck speed.

When she hit the ground, it was a miracle she wasn't dead. And she knew she wasn't dead. Being dead could not hurt this much. Everything in her body was broken. She managed to suck in a few, raspy breaths, even though she knew there was no point.

But then Tsun was there and through her rapidly darkening vision, she saw him do _something_. And suddenly everything was… not broken. She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry or both.

Tsun offered her and hand, which she gladly took, and helped her up. Merina brushed a bit of dirt off her armor, still in a little shock that her hand was even working. "Thank you! I— thank you!"

Tsun brushed her gratitude off with a victorious smile. "This was a mighty deed! The doom of Alduin encompassed at last and cleansed of Sovngarde of his evil snare. They will sing of this battle in Shor's hall forever. But your fate lies elsewhere. When you have completed your count of days, I may welcome you again, with glad friendship, and bid you join the blessed feasting."

Merina didn't think her day could get better after slaying Alduin and then not dying. It just did.

Thousands of souls were racing towards the Whalebone bridge, but Merina saw one that stopped. Ralof gave a small smile and a nod. Then he raced along with everyone else who belonged in Sovngarde, eager to enter the Hall of Valor.

And a chant began to arise, coming from the Hall of Valor, from Gormlaith, Hakon, and Felldir, from all the recently trapped souls. "All hail the Dragonborn! Hail her with great praise!"

Merina wasn't sure what to do. She felt like she should wave or smile or _something_, but she just didn't know what. Tsun began speaking to her again before she make up her mind. "Return now to Nirn, with this rich boon from Shor, my lord: a Shout to bring a hero from Sovngarde in your hour of need. Nahl...Daal...Vus!"

And once again, Merina felt like she was falling, the same feeling she'd had going through the portal. And suddenly, she was standing… somewhere. She wasn't sure where exactly, but she knew it was in Skyrim. No other place in the world was that cold. No other place snowed with such ferocity. Even if she couldn't see, she could feel the snow. That was something she did not miss.

When she was finally able to see, she realized she was at the top of the Throat of the World. And she was not alone.

Dragons surrounded the mountain in a circle. Merina's hand instinctively went for her blade, but she stopped herself mid movement. The dragons were saying… something, but Merina didn't understand more than the word "Alduin".

One dragon said something to the others and then they all rose to take flight, their roars echoing across the sky. But then Merina realized that not all had flown away— two stayed behind. It was difficult to see through the snow, but Merina could tell that they were Paarthurnax and Odahviing.

Paarthurnax began speaking to her from his seat on the Word Wall. "So it is done. Alduin dilon. The Eldest is no more, he who came before all others, and has always been."

Merina frowned and raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound very happy about it."

"Happy? No, I am not happy. Zeymahi lost ont du'ul Bormahu. Alduin was once the crown of our father Akatosh's creation. You did what was necessary. Alduin had flown far from the path of right action in pahlok— the arrogance of his power. But I cannot celebrate his fall. Zu'u tiiraz ahst ok mah. He was my brother once. This world world will never be the same."

Merina stared at snowy mountain top, wanting to look at anything but Paarthurnax. "I—"

Her words seemed to die in her throat.

"I'm sorry."

Those felt cheap and insincere. But she didn't know what else to say. "I just— I couldn't Alduin destroy the world."

"Perhaps. And, as you told me once, the next world will have to take care of itself. Ful nii los. Even I cannot see past Time's ending. But I forget myself. Krosis. So los mid fahdon. Melancholy is an easy trap for a dovah to fall into. You have won a mighty victory. Sahrot kongrah— one that will echo through out all the ages of this world for those who have eyes to see. Savor your triumph, Dovahkiin. This is not the last of what you will write on the currents of Time."

Then he suddenly flew up into the air. "Goraan! I feel younger than I have in a many an age. Many of the dovahhe are scattered across Keizaal. Without Alduin's lordship, they may yet bow to the vahzen… rightness of my Thu'um. But willing or no, they will hear it! Fare thee well, Dovahkiin!"

Then he flew away and within moments, he was out of sight.

"Goodbye… friend."

Merina turned when she heard a dragon descending to the ground right next to her. It was Odahviing, his red scales alone told her that. When he turned to speak to her, his face was less than an arm's length from her own. "Pruzah wundunne wah Wuth Gein. I wish the old one luck in his… quest. But I doubt that many will wish to exchange Alduin's lordship for the tyranny of Paarthurnax's "Way of the Voice". As for myself, you've proven your mastery twice over. Thuri, Dovahkiin. I gladly acknowledge the power of your Thu'um. Zu'u Odahviing. Call me when you have need, and I will come if I can."

Merina smiled. "It turns out I might have a need now. Any chance you could fly me back to Whiterun?"

Odahviing lowered his neck and Merina climbed on. It took about an hour to get back to the palace and even that felt like to long. Eventually, they reached the very balcony that Merina had flown off of, just maybe over two days ago, when she was searching for Alduin.

She jumped off of Odahviing's neck and onto the wooden balcony floor. It felt strange to be on a floor. All of that and now she was just back in Whiterun.

There was a suddenly clanking noise and the sound of leather pounding against wood. Merina turned to see Lydia and Serana running towards her. A smile instantly lit up her face.

"You— you did it!"

Merina let out a laugh. "That surprised, Serana?"

Even Lydia had a smile on her face. "It is good to have you back, my Thane. And now it is time to show you what a true celebration in Skyrim looks like."

"Let me guess, it involves copious amounts of mead, doesn't it?"

"But of course. It would not be a true Nord celebration without the mead."

And it was off to the Bannered Mare after that. The mead was free, apparently knowledge of Merina's deeds had spread through Whiterun, and Merina and Lydia drank well that night. They sang a tipsy rendition of Tale of Tongues, which even Serana got in on at around the second verse.

Serana was the one who kept them out of trouble that night, as she wasn't drinking. Apparently, vampires didn't really care for food or drink. It was lucky that Serana wasn't drinking, because Merina and Lydia probably would have gotten in more trouble than they could handle in one night. At some point a wizard challenged them to a drinking contest over a staff. Merina would have accepted, but Serana stopped her. Then, Lydia got in a fist fight with a woman and after that, Serana dragged the two of them out.

That night ended happy and the next morning started with headaches and a remembrance of grudges. It was going to be a long winter with two people stuck together in house when they could barely speak to each other.

Author's note: First things first, this chapter is late. Incredibly late. I got a huge case of writer's block over this chapter, particularly the fight scene. I knew where I wanted to go in later chapters, but I just could not write chapter 16. Then I got Dragon Age as a birthday present and top of writer's block I had a new obsession. So at some point during July, I just stopped writing I'm sorry for the long wait and I hope it won't happen again. As always, I own nothing. Thank you to everyone who read and put up with a weirdly long wait. Again, I'm sorry about that.


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